Winchester and Cain
by Blue-Eyed AngelGirl
Summary: Remember when Sam and Dean were driving in the Impala on that deserted highway in that pilot episode? You're probably gonna have to think a little bit to remember. They're driving and they almost hit a mysterious girl dressed all in black, standing in the middle of the road - like she has no idea where she is, 'girl in black' sounds like a beloved book character we all know, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So... I was watching Supernatural and reading one of my favourite book series of all time: Skulduggery Pleasant! And I thought - _'What would it be like if Valkyrie was sucked into the world of Sam and Dean?'_ Please Comment because I honestly have no idea how this will turn out!**

Winchester and Cain Chapter 01 - Pilot

_Valkyrie's __P.O.V_

"Give it up, Nadir!" I called out to the man at the edge of the warehouse, Skulduggery and I had been told that the recently escaped Silas Nadir was spotted hanging around an old, abandoned warehouse on the edge of Dublin, so Skulduggery and I had gone to rearrest him and put him back in the gaol, where he belonged. Silas Nadir turned with a malicious smirk painted on his cruel, unshaven face. He raised something and I saw it glint in the dusty fading lamplight, immediately Skulduggery's gun snapped into his gloved hand and he started firing, Silas dived out the way and covered behind some old looking crates, I sighed and clicked my fingers, casting a look at my skeleton partner, "I'll go in close range, you stand and shoot... Just try not to hit me, ok?" With one last smirk I ran forward into the gloom, Silas was hiding by the crates with what looked like with his ankle trapped in an old fisherman's net, I grinned: this was just too easy. I stalked forward with a flame dancing in my palm, I was two steps from him when I noticed the escaped criminal still had a knowing grin on his face. He suddenly jumped up - his foot not trapped in the net at all, I fell back a little from shock and cried out in surprise. Silas charged towards me and aimed punches at my shoulder, the clothes Ghastly had made me absorbed the blows and had little effect on my arm. I simply smirked at Nadir's confused expression and caught the man with a throat jab, following with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. Silas fell to the ground, a dazed look replacing the confused look, I grinned down at the man as my hand went in my pocket for my set of handcuffs. I saw too late the gun in the man's hand as he fired twice to my chest, the bullets were well aimed at my ribcage and stomach and I doubled over - the bullets didn't pass through my clothing but they knocked the wind out of me.

"Valkyrie!" Skulduggery roared behind me, I heard his rushing footsteps and turned with a weak smile on my face.

"It's fine, protective clothing remem-." I was cut off as I felt an all too familiar shocking pain going down my spine, I screamed in surprise and looked back to see Nadir's hand firmly on my exposed neck, that malicious smirk plastered on his face again. "Son of a bitch!" I growled as Skulduggery caught me in his bony arms, Silas lurched forward towards us and Skulduggery didn't hesitate to fire three shots from his gun. Silas may have aimed well, but Skulduggery's accuracy was impeccable: the three shots hole punched a perfect line across Nadir's chest. The escaped convict fell with no other sound, I watched as blood pumped out onto the floor from his dead corpse.

We exited the deserted warehouse in relatively good moods, albeit Skulduggery being concerned for my health, "Are you sure you're ok?" He pressed, his pale skull glinting in the streetlights. I sighed and nodded.

"Of course I'm ok, Skul." I assured him for the billionth time, I stuffed my hands into my pockets and started humming a tune.

"Valkyrie, if I have to hear this tune again I'm afraid I'll have to pull the gun on you." Skulduggery sighed, I couldn't help but grin and rolled my eyes.

"What? It's 'Stairway to heaven', it's a classic!" I complained, holding my hands up in defence, we rounded a corner and I stumbled a little, feeling lightheaded, seconds past and I stopped walking altogether, my head pounding. "Oh great." I muttered as I felt the familiar throbbing going up and down my spine where Nadir had zapped me. I looked up to see a flickering Skulduggery looking at my with his head tilted.

"Valkyrie?" He asked, concern lacing his soft velvety voice, I groaned as he started flickering even more, eventually Skulduggery disappeared. Dublin disappeared. Ireland disappeared.

I stumbled and fell down, my hands shot out in instinct and I landed on a hot tarmac road. I groaned as I studied my grazed and bloodied hands: still, at least it's not that wacko alternate reality again. I heard a loud beeping noise and rolled out the way of a shining black car, the car missed me by inches and I squinted as the exhaust pipe spat out dark grey smoking fumes as it braked to a stop. Two young men jumped out the car and stormed over to me, I squinted and looked up at them through the glare of the sunlight. "Are you crazy, lady? You coulda been killed back there!" The shorted man shouted in a deep voice, he carried a heavy American accent. Definitely not in Ireland then.

"Where am I?" I asked, eyeing the two men warily, prepared to click my fingers if summon shadows in case they tried anything.

"You're in the middle of the frickin' Centennial Highway." The shorter man continued angrily, his hand gesturing to the long road leading off into the distance.

"Right... Where?" I asked, even more confused than before, the two men exchanged a look. The taller one with shaggy hair crouched down, his dark hazel eyes looking into mine.

"You musta hit your head pretty hard, huh?" The man murmured, he reached down and instinctively I blocked it with my elbow. Everything froze, the man in front of me held his hands up in a defensive manner, "Woah, woah. Easy there, I'm not gonna hurt you." He said in a soft tone_,_ his hand slowly moved towards me, I shrank away a little but stopped: since when did _I_ shrink away from people? I let the man's hand near my face, my eyes narrowed at him all the while, my thumb and third finger were instinctively pressed together to conjure a flame in case something happened. I needn't have worried: the man brushed my dark hair from my face and pressed against the side of my forehead, I gasped a little as pain blossomed, when the man withdrew his fingers they were covered in blood.

"Ouch." I laughed halfheartedly and sighed, "So, this Centennie Highway place, that's America right?" I asked.

"Uh-huh, here." The tall one stood up and offered me his hand, I took it and winced a little as the pins and needles dabbled up and down my numb legs.

"So... We didn't hit you with our car, you're not dead, you're not gonna press charges and it was nice meeting you." The shorter man said, he tugged at the taller boy's arm but the boy shrugged it off.

"Wait, please! I don't know where I am, I have no money and I have no phone signal. Please, can you help me?" I pleaded, my mind casting back to Ireland.

"Uhh, sure, sure." The taller one nodded, I sighed in relief.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." I smiled at them, welcoming the warm feeling of relief.

"Ummm Sam, bro?" The shorter man looked at the taller one - _Sam_, and then looked back at me, "Just 'scuse us for one moment please." He asked, I nodded and looked away as Sam allowed his friend to drag him away. I got my phone out and frowned in annoyance as I saw the lack of signal bars on the lock screen, I didn't bother to unlock it and shoved it back in my pocket angrily. The two men walked back over, the shorter one eyeing me suspiciously, but Sam's smile was open and friendly.

"Well, we've discussed it and decided to give you a lift back into the next town over, from there are you sure you can make your way home?" Sam asked, I started to shrug, but saw Sam's friend frown and nodded hastily.

"I'm sure." I nodded.

"Well, great. I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean." He gestured to himself and then his brother.

"I'm Valkyrie." I smiled at the both of them.

"Valerie?" Dean asked, confusion written across his handsome features.

"Wow, if I had a pound everytime someone said that... It's _Valkyrie_, with a K." I corrected.

"Valkyrie. Got it." Dean replied, without another word he turned and strolled back to the car, I walked with Sam back to the car. The glossy black paint job reminded me of Skulduggery's Bentley and I sighed wistfully, running my hand across the handle.

"You like it, huh?" Dean asked, watching me with a smirk.

"Uhh yeah." It wasn't exactly a lie - it was a pretty car.

Dean was racing along up the roads, there were no other cars to be seen and Dean knew the meaning of speed, he had an old AC/DC song blasting from the speakers and I couldn't help but smile. Sam had offered to give me first aid but I declined - all it needed was an anti-bacteria swab and a clear plaster and it was good to go. "So, Valkyrie. Where are you from?" Sam asked from the passenger seat.

"I'm from a small town in Ireland, south of Dublin." I answered simply.

"And how'd a seventeen year old girl turn up in the middle of a highway alone?" Dean asked, I paused for a moment - I doubted Sam and Dean would believe me if I told him about how Silas Nadir had shunted me here.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." I tried, to my surprise the two brother exchanged a grin and Dean glanced back at me.

"Try us." He challenged.

"Umm ok, I was working trying to arrest an escaped convict in a warehouse with my, uh, partner and he sent me to the middle of America." I told them the cliffnotes, I smiled a little when I saw Dean frown in the rearview mirror.

"Wait, wait wait... What do you mean 'sent'?"

"And what do you mean by arrest?" Sam added.

"I'm a detective." I answered Sam's question with a shrug, I wasn't going to answer Dean's, not unless I absolutely had to.

"How can you be a detective? You're seventeen, you're meant to be in school, doing teenage stuff." Sam sounded shocked and I rolled my eyes.

"You're kidding, right?" I smirked and Dean chuckled.

"Hear that Sam? Valkyrie doesn't need school, you don't need school." Dean said smugly.

"Oh yeah, Dean? Tell me Valkyrie, at home you have a family who loves you, cares for you, right?" Same asked, I suddenly thought about my reflection at home, smiling her fake smile and fake laughing with my parents. My insides turned cold and a lump appeared in my throat.

"I, uhh, guess so." I lied. An unwanted silence followed and I saw Sam looking at his phone.

"All right, so there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or morgue. That's something I guess." Sam looked at his older brother, Dean glanced at Sam and I stayed quiet, suddenly feeling like I was intruding. I looked out the windscreen and saw a bridge up ahead, two police cars were parked upon it, the red and blue lights flashing brightly, even from this distance.

"Check it out." Dean pointed to the officers that were dotted around up and down the bridge, Sam leant forward in his seat for a closer look. I wasn't surprised I was doing the same - crimes and adventure were my life, after all. Dean pulled the car over to a slow, smooth stop. The engine cut out and so did the music, he opened the glove box and I glimpsed numerous cards and badges, knowing exactly what they were. I stole a glance at Sam and saw that he was staring at his older brother incredulously, Dean merely smiled as he handed a card to his brother. "Let's go." He smirked and they both got out the car and shut it, I waited two seconds until I stepped out the car too. "Woah, this wasn't part of the deal, Valkyrie." Dean gave me a stern look, I raised an eyebrow at him and pointed to the police cars and the crashed car up on the center of the bridge.

"You're kidding me, right? I'm a detective, bloody crime scenes are my life. And besides," I reached into my pocket and pulled out my purse, I opened one of the side compartments to reveal all of the fake ID's Skulduggery had crafted me for situations like this, "You didn't think I'm not prepared for these instances do you?" I asked sweetly, Sam chuckled and Dean stayed quiet and didn't answer. "Right, let's go." I told them and walked off over to the direction of the policemen.

I walked over to the deputy leaning over the railing looking down at two officers in the river, they were both wearing wetsuits and I assumed they were trying to look for the body. "You guys find anything?" The deputy called down to them.

"No! Nothing!" The men called up to their superior. They deputy sighed and turned to another man peering into the deserted car.

"No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless. It's almost too clean." The man sighed, and looked up to his colleague, his badge told me that his name was deputy Hein.

"So this kid Troy, he's dating your daughter, isn't he?" The other deputy said, Heine sighed again and put his hands behind his head.

"Yeah."

"How's Amy doing?" The first deputy asked, I felt the air shift behind me and glanced to my left to see Dean and Sam joining me.

"She's putting up missing posters downtown." Hein answered glumly.

"You fellas had another one just like this last month, didn't you?" Dean piped up, the first deputy looked up at us and straightened a little, his chest puffed out.

"And who are you?" The deputy demanded, Dean chuckled and flashed his badge. I glimpsed the logo and smirked a little.

"Federal marshals." Dean stated smugly.

"You three are a little young to be marshals, aren't you?" The deputy scratched at his chin, eyeing us all suspiciously - especially Sam and I.

"Well, that's awfully kind of you." Dean smiled and I had to fight down a chuckle, he cast his gaze over the deputy's shoulder and at the car, "You did have another one just like this, correct?" Dean pressed subtly.

"Yeah, that's right. About a mile up the road, there've been more before that too." The deputy pointed up the highway.

"So, this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked.

"Town like this, everybody knows everybody." The deputy nodded in agreement.

"Any connection between the victims, besides the fact that they're all men?" Dean asked, he was circling the car and peering in at the windows.

"No, not so far as we can tell." The deputy shook his head in disagreement, his tone was curt.

"So, what's the theory?" I asked, the deputy looked taken aback at me asking him a question and he paused for a moment.

"Honestly, we don't know. Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?" The deputy asked a little doubtfully.

"Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys." Dean sighed almost sadly, Sam stomped on his brother's foot, Dean groaned and I had to hide my grin.

"Thank you for your time." I smiled at the deputy and we walked away, as we neared the car Dean reached up and hit Sam on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Sam complained at his brother, rubbing the back of his head.

"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean replied in annoyance.

"Why'd you have to talk to the police like that?" Sam snapped back. Dean looked at his brother and walked in front of him, Sam stopped and I stopped with them.

"Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves." Dean told Sam in a serious tone, I looked away awkwardly. The sound of Sam clearing his throat made me turn back to them, and I saw the Sheriff and two FBI agents stood behind him.

"Can I help you three?" The Sheriff asked.

"No sir, we were just leaving." Dean answered the Sheriff evenly. We passed the trio in silence until Dean nodded to the two FBI agents. "Agent Mulder, agent Scully." He nodded to them.

The journey wasn't silent - Sam argued and whined to Dean about the music selection, Dean was getting a little tired of him already. "So, Valkyrie, we'll drop you off in the town center and you can go back to wherever you came from, Sam and I will go do what we came here to do and then we'll go home." Dean told me, he glanced at Sam and I nodded.

"Sounds great," I tried not to sound as worried as I already felt, "So, what was that back there? Why did you even go inspect the area already? You're not policemen, so what's the deal?" I asked the brothers, they exchanged glances and there was an obvious hesitation between them.

"We, uh, we deal with these sort of mysterious disappearances, like an unexplained death or someone who just vanishes from the face of the earth." Sam struggled to explain, I nodded slowly.

"Ok... So you think that the car abandoned on the bridge is viewed as mysterious?" I asked, suddenly interested.

"Well yeah, I mean you heard the guy: 'no prints', kinda mysterious, huh?" Dean answered.

"Right, but any experienced murderer knows how to clear a crime scene, prints can be wiped." I reasoned.

"Well, yeah, but me and Sam have reason to believe that it's something else entirely." Dean stated simply, I leaned in closer.

"Really? What is it?" I asked excitedly, the feeling I got whenever I was working on a case with Skulduggery... Well, apart from when we did paper filing or the incredibly boring stuff.

"It's, err, nothing you need to worry about Valkyrie." Sam answered, I frowned and sighed.

I stayed quiet for the next few minutes and tried to come up with a way to get back to Ireland, hoping Skulduggery would be trying to figure out how to get me back.

_Skulduggery's P.O.V_

I was sat in The Repository with Ghastly pouring over all the books we had about Shunters, Valkyrie had been gone for a couple of hours and I had know idea where she was and when she was coming back. "Anything?" I called to Ghastly Bespoke, he was sat in one corner and I was sat in another, we both had a stack of books next to us and were trying to find anything useful that would get Valkyrie back.

"No, there's nothing in this book that would help." Ghastly's disappointed tone drifted towards me through the half light.

"Keep looking, there has to be something here to help." I said, discarding the useless book in my hands angrily, it skidded across the polished floor and crashed into an old, dusty bookcase holding many objects, wondrous and weird, frightful and fun.

We sat for ten more minutes in silence, until Ghastly broke it. "Uhh, Skulduggery?" He asked, his voice uncharacteristically hollow.

"What is it? What did you find?" My head snapped up and gazed at the man eagerly, Ghastly looked pale as he thumbed the pages of his book, his fingers stopped at the correct page and his forefinger slid down as he tried to find whatever he was looking for.

"It says, uhh, that when a Shunter shunts someone, they act as the anchor for the person. You killed Silas Nadir, right?" Ghastly's voice was no longer hollow, it shook.

"Yes." I answered.

"Well, Valkyrie doesn't have an anchor anymore. Her connection from this world died within Nadir. She's gone, Skulduggery. And she's never coming back." Ghastly said, silence followed his sentence as I absorbed what he was telling me: Valkyrie, gone forever. I pictured the pretty seventeen year old with dark hair and dark eyes, dressed all in black with a smirk to finish, she couldn't be gone. I wouldn't accept it.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V _

I did try and find a way home, I honestly did. But no one knew what to say when a seventeen year old asked them if they knew the best way to get to an airport, I sighed as I was walking down the main street, I saw a girl putting up missing persons posters of the missing boy, Troy. I walked over to her and remembered what the deputy's had said about the man's daughter being the girlfriend of the deceased. I assumed this was her. "Hi, you're Amy, right?" I asked her with a warm smile.

"Yeah." The girl smiled, despite the grief she must have been going through.

"Troy told me about you, I'm his cousin, Valkyrie." I smiled wider, the girl finished taping a poster up and frowned at me in confusion.

"He never mentioned you." She said, she suddenly turned and walked away and I caught up with her and walked with her.

"Well, that's Troy I guess," I fake laughed, "I'm not around much, as you can probably tell I'm from Ireland. I'm only passing through to help find him." I was such a great actor, keeping my eyes a little sad and wide. The girl looked at me and I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she looked as if she was about to burst into tears there and then. We suddenly bumped into some people and I looked up to apologise, "Oh sorry! I didn't..." I trailed off when I saw Sam and Dean.

"You must be Amy." Dean said, acting as if he hadn't just crashed into her.

"Yeah." The girl sniffed a little and I fought down a shudder: I hated it when people do that.

"Troy's told us so much about you, we're his uncles. I'm Dean and this is Sammy." He smiled, and I closed my eyes.

"Wait, you're all related?" Amy asked suspiciously, eyeing the three of us.

"No, these are my mum's brothers, uncle Dea, and uhh, Sammy." I grinned, "I'm staying with them so we can help search for Troy." I explained, Amy was still as she absorbed this, I could see she was trying to find something that didn't fit, but I was a master at deception.

"Ok, well Hi I guess." She gave us a weak smile.

"Anyway, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around." Sam started to say, we passed another girl who looked around Amy and I's age, she touched Amy on the arm in sympathy.

"Hey, are you ok?" The girl asked, I rolled my eyes at the dramatics: this girl probably never even spoke to Amy.

"Yeah." Amy replied.

"Do you mind if we ask a couple of questions?" Sam continued once the girl had walked away.

The four of us were sat in a diner, Amy and I were opposite Sam and Dean. "I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and...he never did." Amy told us, her eyes shining.

"He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?" Sam asked.

"No. Nothing I can remember." Amy shook her head, she looked like she was going to cry again so I pointed to her necklace.

"I like your necklace." I complimented the pentagram in the circle, I remember reading somewhere that it was related in the devil cult stuff.

"Thanks, Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff." Amy laughed, I chuckled along with her so it wasn't awkward.

"Actually it means the opposite, a pentagram is protection against evil - really powerful," He looked from Amy to me, we were both looking at him a little doubtfully. "If you believe that kind of thing." He added.

"Okay, thank you, Unsolved Mysteries." Dean rolled his eyes at his brother, I couldn't help but smirk at his new name for Sam.

"Here's the deal, Amy, the way Troy dissappeared: something's not right. So if you've heard anything..." Dean trailed off when Amy bit her lip.

"What is it?" Sam asked the girl.

"Well, it's just... I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk." Amy shrugged uncomfortably.

"What do they talk about?" Dean and I said simultaneously, we looked at eachother and grinned a little.

"It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on the Centennial, like decades ago." Amy explained, Sam and Dean looked at eachother and then back to Amy. "Well, supposedly she's still out there," the girl continued, "She hitchikes, and whoever picks her up? They disappear forever."

"Well, that's just a legend." I shrugged, unperturbed.

"Yeah." Amy nodded and stood up, "Well, it's been nice to meet you and stuff..." She smiled and trailed off.

"Yeah, you too, Amy." I smiled back. Amy left without another word, Sam and Dean were looking at me with intense gazes. I bit my lip and stared at the salt shaker on the table, "So, it's nice to see you guys again." I murmured.

"What are you doing, Valkyrie?" Dean asked, his tone stern, "We're trying to work on a case and you're here taking our lines."

"So you're detectives too, huh?" I nodded, then leaned closer. "Then you know what it's like! People are mysteriously disappearing and all I wanna do is find out what's happening to them, that's all." I said.

"It's too dangerous, Valkyrie, we don't know who we're dealing with yet." Sam argued, I rolled my eyes.

"Sam, I've been doing this for a long time, ok? I started when I was like, eleven!" I argued, annoyed at Sam's concern.

"Eleven? That's crazy!" Sam snapped.

"Sam, how old were we when Dad started... You know?" Dean looked at his brother with a shrug. "Ok, Valkyrie, you can help us out, but then after that I'm driving you to the next airport I see, you can get on a plane and go back to wherever you came from." Dean told me firmly, I nodded in agreement.

"Sounds fair." I answered simply and we all stood up, I picked up my coat from the back of my chair and started to put it on, "So where to next?"

"Are you serious? The library?" I whined as the three of us climbed the stairs leading into the worryingly large building.

"Yep." Dean answered, I heaved a sigh as I stepped through the double doors, the old lady at the receptionists desk glared at me through her round glasses and shushed me angrily. I rolled my eyes and flicked her off when she turned her back, Sam chuckled behind me. Dean led us to an ancient looking computer that was located in the back corner of the room, Dean sat himself at the desk and started typing quickly, his fingers danced over the dusty keyboard as he typed something into it. I looked at the computer screen and saw he was in the _Jericho Herald_ archives, Dean typed into the search bar:

**Fe****male murder hitchhiking **

**[0 results] **

Dean frowned and typed again into the search bar:

**Female murder ****Centennial Highway **

**[0 results] **

"Here let me." Sam said, his hand reached towards the keyboard but Dean slapped it away.

"I got it." Dean shook his head at his brother. There was silence for three seconds. Sam shoved Dean out of the chair and sat down at the desk, I stared at them both with wide eyes, a grin tugged the sides of my mouth. "Dude!" Dean exclaimed, he hit his brother on the shoulder roughly and I burst out laughing. "You're such a control freak." Dean moaned, I giggled again as Sam rolled his eyes.

"So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?" Sam asked, ignoring Dean's comment completely, my giggling died down and I frowned.

"What are you talking about? Angry spirits? They aren't real... Are they?" I trailed off, in the world of magic I guess anything and everything was possible.

"Oh yeah, sweet-cheeks: ghosts, demons, poltergeists, the works. Except angels, of course." Dean smirked at my open-mouthed expression.

"So how did you find out about this stuff?" I asked, suddenly interested about their story.

"Our dad." The brother's said in unison.

"Oh, wow..." I was amazed - I had toyed so many times with the idea of telling my parents about the world I'm part of, about the world I live for. But I was just too scared of how they would react.

"So, anyway, angry spirits are born out of a violent death - so maybe it's not murder." Sam suggested, I watched the screen change as he typed into the search bar:

**Female suicide Centennial Highway**

**[1 result]**

**Suicide on Centennial April 25 1981**

"A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road, leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night. Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several [minutes]. She reported that their complex. What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time.' At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager. 'Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew,' said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. 'She just doted on those children.'" I read out the article aloud.

"This was 1981. Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river." Sam said, he clicked on a picture and it showed an enlarged photo of a woman with dark hair in a white dress.

"Does it say why she did it?" Dean asked, peering at the computer screen.

"Yeah." Sam answered.

"What?" I asked.

"An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die." Sam read a small paragraph at the bottom of the page. Next to the paragraph Sam had just read showed another photograph, this time it was a man standing next to the bridge we had passed on the way to the town where Troy's car was found.

"'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it,' said husband Joseph Welch.'" I read the caption.

"Does that bridge look familiar to you?" Dean pointed to the picture again and Sam nodded.

"Right. Let's go." I said, the brother's nodded and we exited the library in silence.

Sam, Dean and I were walking along the Sylvania Bridge in the moonlight, we leant against the railing and looked out at the rushing dark water below. "So this is where Constance took the swan dive." Dean said, his hands tapped on the metal rails.

"So you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked, the sound of the river intensified, I could hear crickets chirping in the riverbank grasses below.

"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Dean nodded once.

"Ok, so now what?" Sam asked again, I looked around and there was clearly no dead girl to be seen.

"Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while." Dean answered.

"Dean, I've told you, I've gotta get back by Monday-." Sam protested.

"Monday. Right. The interview." Dean nodded, as if he had only just remembered.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean asked, we stepped off from the railing and began to walk down the bridge.

"Maybe, why not?" Sam shrugged nonchalantly.

"Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?" Dean stopped walking and turned to face Sam, I stepped back a little.

"No. And she's not ever going to know." Sam shook his head, his tone firm.

"Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are." Dean rolled his eyes.

"And who's that?" Sam glared at Dean.

"You're one of us." Dean stated simply, and he resumed his walk up the bridge, Sam ran in front of him and stopped Dean in his tracks.

"No. I'm not like you, this is not going to be my life." Sam denied.

"You have a responsibility to-."

"To dad? And his crusade?" Sam cut Dean off angrily, "If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what mum looked like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back." Sam shouted angrily, Dean snapped and grabbed Sam and shoved him towards me, I dived away as Dean slammed Sam up against the railing of the bridge where I was stood. Dean was looking at Sam with a rage in his dark eyes, I quietly readied myself to intervene incase things got out of hand.

"Don't talk about her like that." Dean whispered, he slowly released Sam and walked off. I went to Sam and held out my hand, he took it and I gave him a small smile.

"Sam. Valkyrie." Dean called, we turned and saw a woman in a scraggy white dress, deathly pale with dark, dark hair. It created a dark and terrible contrast, she had her head tilted and was staring at us with sinister gleaming eyes. The woman, or ghost or whatever she was, was standing on the railing, completely balanced as she stared at us. Sam and I joined Dean and then Constance walked forward and off the edge, falling down into the dark depths of the river. I sprinted forward and leaned over the railing, trying to look for where she had hit the river, Dean was by my side in a matter of seconds, "Where'd she go?" He demanded, I merely shrugged and shook my head.

"I don't know." I said as I leaned further over still, we suddenly heard a car engine and we turned to see Dean's car with the headlights on, I looked up at Dean to see a look of worry and confusion etched on his features.

"What the-."

"Who's driving your car?" I cut him off, trying to look past the blinding beam of the headlights to peer into the driver's seat. Beside me, Dean took his car keys out of his pocket and showed us, Sam walked over and grabbed them and jingled them, just to make sure. The car suddenly sped forward, heading straight towards us. We turned and ran.

"Go, go!" Sam shouted as he sprinted beside me, there was fear running through my veins and adrenaline veating in my heart, telling me to run all the more faster. The car sped up and we veered course, it was about to hit us when the three of us dived over the railing, heading straight into the water. I felt the air move under my palms and lightly pushed down, slowing my decent into the murky depths, I hit the cold water and gasped - I had completely underestimated the cold temperature of the river, thanks to magic I had landed only a foot under the water, I kicked up with my legs and my head broke through the surface. The first thing I heard was Sam's frightened tones. "Dean! Valkyrie!" He called, I swam to the bank and laid down on the bank tiredly and closed my eyes. There was the sound of someone panting and then Dean was crawling up the bank next to me.

"What?" Dean snapped in an irritated tone.

"Are you and Valkyrie alright?" Sam's voice sounded distant and I cracked my eyes open a fraction and I saw Sam pulling himself up from the outer side of the bridge railing: why didn't I do that?

"I'm super. Don't know about Valkyrie though." Dean replied and then I felt a hand on my shoulder shaking me, I groaned and opened my eyes.

"Never been better." I groaned and slowly got to my knees and stood up. Sam laughed above us and I hoped for his sake that he was laughing out of relief.

Whilst Sam and Dean were checking the car I used the air to dry myself, as I was playing with a flame in my hand I heard the car bonnet shut and I quickly snuffed it out, it disappeared into the night air. "Your car alright?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick, what a bitch!" Dean spun and shouted down the bridge, as if he was hoping Constance would hear him.

"Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure. So where's the job go from here, genius?" Sam asked, a little angrily towards his brother, he sits on the bonnet and Dean and I join him, we both start clearing the mud from our hands.

"Uhh I smell horrible, can we find a place to freshen up and rest for the night?" I asked, drained from encountering the vengeful spirit and diving into a freezing river.

We arrived in a motel just as the sun was breaking through the treeline, I had looked at myself in the reflection of the car window and to say I was dirty was understatement, mud covered the bottom half of my chin and the ends of my hair. The receptionist at the desk looked at Dean and I with disdain as we walked up to the front desk, Dean flashed one of the fake credit cards and smiled at the man. "One room, please." He asked, placing the card on the desk. The clerk picked up the card and looked at it.

"You guys having a reunion or something?" The clerk asked, a frown of confusion on his face.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I had another guy, Burt Aframian. He came and bought out a room for the whole month." The clerk told me, Dean looked round at his brother, hope blossoming on his face.

"Which room is it?" Dean demanded to the clerk.

Five minutes later Dean and I were playing look out whilst Sam fiddled with the lock and his lockpicks, I heard a tell-tale click and turned to see Sam charge through the doors. "Wait here." He told his older brother, I followed Sam in and stopped at the first glance: newspaper clippings, maps with marker pen scrawled on various points on them were all pinned up on every wall, stacks of books piled high on the desk and bedside table, assorted junk littered the floor and something with a hazard symbol was discarded next to the bed. "Woah." Sam stated, his voice bordering on impressed and fear. Dean walked in and switched the light on.

"I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least." Dean stated, surveying the scene before him, Sam nodded and crouched down to study a salt line circling the bed.

"Salt, cats-eye shells...he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in." Sam observed. I looked at a bunch of papers pinned together on the wall, I took them off and flicked through, briefly reading the titles on each page. "What have you got there?" Sam asked, I looked up and handed him the wad of papers.

"I think they're the Centennial Highway Victims." I said as Sam took the papers. He flicked through them and nodded.

"I don't get it, I mean - different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?" I asked, whilst I was saying this Sam had crossed the room and was studying the far wall, his fingers tracing over the articles.

"Dad figured it out." Sam murmered.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, turning to look at his brother.

"He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white." Sam explained.

"All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it." Dean reasoned, I didn't actually know what Dean meant by burning the corpse, but it sounded plausible - kill the body, kill the spirit.

"She might have another weakness." Sam shrugged.

"Well, dad would want to make sure." Dean replied, he crossed over to stand next to his brother and read the articles for himself, "He'd dig her up, does it say where she's buried?" He asked.

"No. Not that I could tell, if I were dad, though, I'd go ask her husband." Sam shrugged again. He tapped a picture of Joseph Welch, "The caption says he's thirty; the article dates to 1981, so he must be sixty-four." Sam said, he turned around to look at us, "If he's still alive." He added.

"You guy's get the address, I'm gonna go clean up," I nodded my head in the direction of the door which I suspected was the bathroom, "You can shower after me." I added, looking at Dean.

I was sat cross-legged on the bed next to Sam, he was listening to voicemails from a girl, presumably his girlfriend. The message shut off when the bathroom door opened and Dean walked in. "Hey, man. I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?" He offered.

"No." Sam declined.

"Yes. I haven't eaten since I first got here, I'm starving." I informed them.

"You should have said something earlier, Valkyrie, we could have got you something." Sam shook his head in amazement and I shrugged.

"I wasn't hungry then, something about an evil spirit trying to kill me..." I trailed of and laughed lightly, Sam rolled his eyes.

"Right, well I'll be back soon." Dean said and exited the room.

An hour passed and I had seated myself on the edge of the bath in the bathroom and was playing with fire that I had conjured up, the only reason I had gone into the bathroom was because of Sam's deterring voicemails from his girlfriend. I heard Sam's phone ring and he answered it on the first ring, "What?" I heard Sam's voice - he must have been talking with Dean. "What about you?" He asked, his voice concerned, I stood up from the edge of the bath and joined Sam in the main room, he was listening to Dean through the earpiece, his back to me. After a few more seconds he snapped his phone shut and turned, "Dean got busted by the deputies and he says to go find Dad." Sam told me, I nodded and walked over to the door but he called after me. "No, not that way! Apparently they're outside with Dean right now." He advised, I nodded and walked over to the window and slid it open, we both climbed out and descended the fire escape silently and out to the car on the back car park.

Sam and I peeked out of the car window at an old shabby house on the edge of Jericho, "You think this is it?" I asked him, he nodded and we both opened the door and got out. We made our way down the beaten, overgrown garden path and I knocked on the decrepit door, an old man answered and peered at us suspiciously in the safe darkness of his home.

"Hi. Are you Joseph Welch?" Sam greeted warmly.

"Yeah." The man, Joseph, answered.

Sam, Joseph and I were walking down the junk-filled driveway, Sam had shown Joseph a photograph Sam had of his brother and his dad. "He was older, but that's him." The old man confirmed, handing Sam the photo back, "He came by three or four days ago, said he was a reporter." Joseph continued.

"That's right. We're working on a story together." I explained.

"Well, I don't know what the hell kinda story you're working on. The questions he asked me?" Joseph raised his voice angrily, I bit my lip and looked away.

"About your wife, Constance?" Sam took over.

"He asked me where she was buried." Joseph nodded, more calm now.

"And where is that again?" I asked, my tone casual and innocent.

"What, I gotta go through this twice?" The man moaned and I nodded.

"It's fact checking." I shrugged.

"If you don't mind." Sam added quickly. Joseph nodded, stroking the stubble on his chin.

"In a plot. Behind my old place over on Breckenridge." He answered pointing one way up the road.

"Why did you move?" Sam inquired.

"I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died." Joseph shook his head sadly, he stopped walking so Sam and I stopped too.

"Mr Welch, did you ever marry again?" I asked sympathetically.

"No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known." He looked at me with a sort of steely fierceness in his aging blue eyes.

"So, you had a happy marriage?" Sam asked from behind him, Mr Welch froze, but only for a moment. The hesitation was so brief I wasn't even sure it was a hesitation.

"Definitely." Joseph said in a hard tone, I tilted my head in confusion: it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than us.

"Well, that should do it. Thank you for your time." Sam nodded politely and I smiled a goodbye as we started walking back to the car. Before we could reach the doors, however, Sam turned and called out to Joseph. "Mr Welch, did you ever hear of woman in white?" He called over to the old man.

"What?" The man looked at us with a confused look.

"The woman in white, or sometimes the weeping woman?" Sam repeated, the man just stared at us, "It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really." Sam continued and started walking back towards Mr Welch, I followed suit. "Um, they're spirits. They've been sighted for hundreds of years, dozens of places, in Hawaii, Mexico, lately in Arizona, Indiana. All these are different women." Sam explained as he closed the distance between Joseph and his self. The elderly man continued to stare, shocked, at Sam. "You understand, but all share the same story." Sam said as he stopped in front of Joseph.

"Boy, I don't care much for nonsense." Joseph found his voice again, snapping a little at Sam, he turned on his heel and started walking back towards his house.

"See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them." Sam called out, Joseph stopped. "And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children." Sam said, Joseph turned round, his face a white sheet and his eyes round and wide. "Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again." He finished, I looked to make sure Mr Welch hadn't fainted from shock.

"You two think...you both think that has something to do with...Constance? You smartasses!" Joseph yelled.

"You tell us." I shrugged simply, Joseph was no longer white - he was red faced with wild eyes.

"I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you both get the hell out of here! And neither of you don't come back!" The man roared, I saw his hand shaking and I couldn't decide whether that was from anger or grief. He stared at Sam and I for the longest time, I could hear his heavy breathing from where I was stood, then he turned and stormed off, beside me Sam sighed.

"Let's go." Sam said and I nodded, as we were walking back to the car he handed me his phone.

"What's this for?" I asked as we opened the car doors.

"I need you to make a call." Sam answered.

As we were driving along the dark highway the phone Sam had given me rang in my lap, I picked it up and answered. "Fake 911 phone call? Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal." I heard Dean's voice on the other end and smirked.

"You're welcome." I replied.

"Valkyrie? Well... Thanks, hey listen, we all gotta talk." Dean's voice sounded urgent and I found myself nodding.

"Tell me about it. So the husband was unfaithful. We are dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been your dad's next stop." I explained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hang on for a second." Dean said.

"I just can't figure out why your dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet." I continued.

"Well, that's what I'm trying to say. He's gone. Dad left Jericho." Dean explained.

"What? How do you know?" I asked.

"I've got his journal."

"So?" I shrugged.

"He never went anywhere without it." Dean explained.

"So, what's it say?" I asked.

"Ah, the same old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going." Dean continued.

"Coordinates, right? Where to?" I questioned again.

"I'm not sure."

"Dean, what's going on? Why did your dad just skip out in the middle of a job?" I asked confusedly, the car suddenly braked and I slammed forward, dropping the phone in shock, my head slammed onto the dashboard and I cried out in surprise. "Sam!" I growled, rubbing my head and glaring at him, but Sam took no notice: his gaze was transfixed on something on the road.

"Sam? Valkyrie?" Dean's panicked tones peirced the silence as I glimpsed Constance standing out on the dark, empty highway. I blinked and she was gone, beside me, Sam was breathing hard and I felt the air shift behind me, my black ring went cold: someone in the car was dead.

"Take me home." A woman's voice echoed around the car, my eyes looked up in the rear-view mirror and I saw Constance sitting in the back seat, her head down and her dark, matted hair covering her face. "Take me home!" She demanded, her head looking up and looked at Sam in the rear-view mirror, those dark, empty eyes boring into his.

"No." Sam shook his head. The woman glared and the doors locked, Sam and I turned and tried to force them open but they wouldn't budge. The gas pedal suddenly pressed down and the car moved forward, Sam grabbed the steering wheel and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't move an inch. I kicked at the door with my legs but it was useless, I glanced up at the woman's reflection and I gasped when I saw she was flickering. The car pulled up in front of a once-pretty, abandoned large house, the door had peeled white paint slashed over it, the windows were dark and unwelcoming. "Don't do this." Sam begged to the pale, pale woman in the back seat.

"I can never go home." Constance suddenly said, she flickered again and her face had a pained expression on her face and sounded sad, almost morbid.

"You're scared to go home." I suddenly realised, I looked at Sam and then back at Constance, only she wasn't there. She suddenly appeared and shoved Sam back into his seat as she pushed against him, the seat reclined from the sudden force and I tried to pull her off, but an invisible force slammed me against the door. I looked up and saw Sam struggling beneath the apparition.

"Hold me. I'm so cold." She sighed and closed her onyx eyes.

"You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful, and I've never been!" Sam protested and Constance opened her eyes.

"I know you have," Her eyes flickered to me and I felt a cold fear spread through me, an image of Caelan and Fletcher appeared in my head but I shook it away, raisingmy head and holding her gaze and narrowing my eyes at her.

"Maybe so, but I'm not a man." I argued, the ghost smirked and then looked up at Sam.

"And you, you will be. Just hold me." She said to him and then she kissed him, Sam struggled harder, I leaned forward to help him but the invisible force pinned me to the door again. Sam's hand flashed and he grabbed something, the keys jingled and she pulled away from him and disappeared, the force that had me pinned against the car door vanished and I relaxed into the seat. Beside me, Sam was gasping for breath and was looking around, his eyes wide with shock. He suddenly yelled out in pain and I jumped, he zipped open his hoodie and yanked it off, I saw five new holes burnt through the fabric - five holes for five fingers. Constsnce appeared again and her hand reached for Sam's chest, her hand neared his skin and a gunshot sounded, shattering the window to Sam's left and startling Constance. I saw Dean striding forward, his shotgun in his hand, he fires again and I saw Constance's eyes narrow and she vanished again and appeared in a different place, Dean fires again but she disappeared and reappeared in a different place, it all reminded me of Fletcher's tactics. When Constance disappeared and didn't reappear Sam sat up and started the car, steely determination etched onto his features.

"I'm taking you home." He said and floored the gas pedal, the car sped forward and I was pressed into the seat. The car neared the side of the house and I screamed when it crashed into the house. My ears were ringing and my vision was blurred, I felt like I had been kicked in the gut, Dean suddenly appeared at my window and was peering in at us.

"Sam! Sam! You ok?" His voice slowly reached my ears, he opened my door and he put his arms around me and carefully pulled me out, "Hey, look at me. Look at me." Dean spoke to me and I blinked up at him, waiting for him to come into focus and the ringing in my ears to stop. Sam staggered out of the driver's side and fell to the ground, coughing from the dust. "Sam, you ok?" I heard Dean ask over the ringing.

"Yeah, I'm great." Sam choked out, Dean turned his attention back to me, he was in focus now and the ringing was dying down.

"Can you move?" He asked me, concern in his tone.

"I think..." I muttered and gripped his shoulder as I stood on shaky legs, I glared at Sam, "I will kill you if you ever try that again." I said to him in a quiet, angry voice. Dean laughed and Sam grinned, I looked around and saw that we had crashed into what looked like a living room, Constance was gazing down at a photograph in her hands, she suddenly looked up and glared at us, throwing the picture down. I felt the air shift but it was too late: a cabinet hurtled towards us and pinned the three of us against the car, we struggled and I had a thought. I freed my hands and snapped my palms - I pushed at the air and the cabinet blasted away from us, I smirked and turned to the ghost, she looked at me with a startled expression. I took a step towards her but it was needless: water began to pour down from the staircase leading upstairs, at the are a boy and girl, they looked as pale as Constance - I recognized them from the picture of Constance and her two children, these two were obviously the kids she killed.

"You've come home to us, mummy." They did that creepy dead child chorus thing that you see in the movies, Constance herself stared up at them, distraught. The children did the disappearing trick and materialized behind their mother, they pulled her in a tight embrace and she threw her head back and screamed in abject agony, her image flickered and still she screamed. The three ghosts melt into a puddle on the floor and the screaming stopped and I breathed out in relief.

"So this is where she drowned her kids." Dean pointed to the puddle on the musty old carpet.

"That's why she could never go home, she was too scared to face them." Sam nodded to us.

"You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy, Valkyrie." Dean smirked and playfully hit him on the chest where Constance's fingers had burned him and walked away back to his car, Sam laughed and then glared at his brother's turned back.

"Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?" Sam asked Dean, there was a brief silence and I burst out laughing,I could see Sam was trying to keep the smile off his face.

"Hey. Saved both your asses." Dean frowned and then leaned on his bonnet and stroked it lovingly. "I'll tell you another thing, if you screwed up my car?" He pointed his finger angrily at his brother and glared, "I'll kill you." He finalized. Sam laughed but it died down when he saw I wasn't laughing along with him.

"I'll help him, you damn near killed me, Sammy." I glared at the younger brother.

"Don't call me that." He sighed and then shot daggers at Dean, "See what you've done? The damage you've caused me with that stupid nickname?" He sighed angrily and I smirked.

I briefly fell asleep in the back seat of the car, I woke up to the sound of Sam and Dean talking, "It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado." Sam was saying, pointing to a map.

"Sounds charming. How far?" Dean nodded.

"About six hundred miles." Sam answered.

"Hey, if we shag ass we could make it by morning." Dean suggested, Sam was quiet for a few moments and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Dean, I, umm..." He trailed off.

"You're not going." Dean finished for him, sighing and tapping the steering wheel annoyedly.

"The interview's in, like, ten hours. I gotta be there." Sam shrugged. Dean nods, but I could see disappointment in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He muttered, a few seconds passed and he glanced at Sam, "I'll take you home." He offered and Sam nodded in thanks.

I drifted off again and awoke to a car door closing, I looked up to see Sam leaning in the open window and looking at Dean. "Call me if you find him?" Sam asked and I knew they were talking about their dad. Dean nodded and Sam smiled, "And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?"

"Yeah, alright." Dean smiled and rolled his eyes.

"I hope you get home safely, Valkyrie, it was nice meeting you and stuff." He glanced at me and gave me a friendly smile.

"Nice meeting you too, Sammy, good luck in your interview tomorrow and thanks for convincing Dean to give me a lift." I thanked him and he shrugged.

"It's nothing, really." He shrugged again and then leaned back out of the window, he hit the roof twice and then turned away. Dean leaned over, his arm wrapping around the back of the passenger seat as he peered out.

"Sam?" He called, the tall boy turned back and looked over, "We made a hell of a team back there, you know." He said.

"Yeah." Sam nodded and grinned, I half expected him to get back in the car, but he stayed where he was. Dean pulled away and I looked at the boy getting further and further away, he looked almost regretful. We drove in silence up the road and made it about half a mile until Dean stopped and turned the car around, I smirked at him and he grinned at me in the rear-view mirror, we sped back to the college and both got out. I breathed the night air gratefully but then frowned when I smelt something that smelled just like...

"Oh my god!" I gasped and pointed to a room above us, an orange glow of flames could be seen inside.

"That's Sam's room." Dean said and sprinted into the college, I tore after him and we raced up the stairs, when we reached Sam's floor I used the shadows to break the glass and I slammed my thumb on the button, alarms rang out but I ignored them and joined Dean at Sam's door. "Sam!" He shouted, panic flowed across his face when he heard no reply and started kicking at the door, I helped and soon enough the door broke from it's hinges with a whine and we burst into the apartment.

"Jess!" I heard Sam's cry of despair and we ran into the direction where it came from, when we reached the bedroom we saw that it was lit up with angry amber flames, on the ceiling there was a pretty looking girl surrounded by flames, Sam was on the bed staring up at the girl in horror.

"Sam! Sam!" Dean ran over to his brother and tugged at his arm, but Sam, remained still, his gaze transfixed on the ceiling.

"No, no!" Sam cried out, Dean looks back at me and I shrugged helplessly, Dean turned back to his brother and picked him up and threw him over his shoulder and ran from the room, Sam was kicking and fighting his brother the whole way. "Jess! No! No!" Sam cried as I shut the door, preventing the roaring flames from following.

The three of us were stood a little way off watching the fire fighters tackle the fire and the police men keep back the students that had gathered outside to stare at the scene. I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being loaded and I turned to see Sam, his face a mask of desperate anger. I tugged at Dean's arm and he went over to his brother, Sam looked up at us and sighed, he nodded and tossed the shotgun back into the trunk. "We got work to do." He stated in desperate determintion and slammed the trunk.

**Author's Note: Ok this took me a whole two days to write, please tell me if it was worth it in your ****reviews! **

**\- Blue-Eyed AngelGirl x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for your reviews, when I get my 5****th**** review I'll upload Chapter 3!**

Winchester and Cain Chapter 02 - Wendigo

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Sam, Dean and I were on the road to Colorado, going to the co-ordinates that the boys' dad, John Winchester, had given them. Sam was only here because he sought vengeance from the demon that killed his girlfriend, Jess. I looked at the boy who was asleep next to his brother in the front seat and frowned: the poor guy hadn't had a good week, after all. Sam suddenly jerked awake, gasping for breath, I jumped and widened my eyes at him, then caught Dean's look at me in the rear view mirror. "You ok?" The older brother asked as Sam rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam muttered as he stared out the window, not meeting me or Dean's gaze.

"Another nightmare?" I asked gently, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, he cleared his throat and didn't answer.

"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asked.

"Yes." I answered immediately, Dean turned his head and rolled his eyes on me and I shrugged, "What?" I asked innocently, eyeing the polished dashboard and gleaming steering wheel, Sam laughed at me and then looked at his brother.

"Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that." Sam said suspiciously, next to him Dean shot him a confused look.

"Just thought you might want to. Never mind." Dean huffed.

"Look, I know you're both worried about me, I get it. And thank you! But I'm perfectly okay." Sam sighed and glanced at the two of us.

"Mm-hmm." Dean nodded, unconvinced. Sam ignored him and grabbed the map from the dashboard and looked at it.

"All right, where are we?" Sam asked.

"We are just outside of... What's it called again?" I piped up.

"Grand Junction." Dean answered, his eyes fixed on the road. "We went through the map earlier, Valkyrie, you should know this by now." Dean scolded. I scoffed and crossed my arms sulkily.

"Yeah, well I'm not likely to remember the highly obnoxious ones like Grand Junction. What's so Grand about it anyway?" I asked, the two boys chuckled and exchanged a glance. Sam folded the map away and I glimpsed the label Dean had stuck there with the co-ordinates 35-111 on.

"You know what?" Sam asked as he placed the map back on top of the dashboard, "Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." He suggested lightly.

"Sam, we dug around there for a week. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica-." I started, but Sam cut me off.

"We gotta find my Dad first. I know, I know." Sam sighed and nodded.

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence." Dean shrugged and overtook a lorry, "Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do." He finished in a firm voice.

"It's weird man, these co-ordinates he left us. This Blackwater Ridge." Sam observed.

"What about it?" Dean asked.

"There's nothing there. It's just woods." He moaned. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?" He asked, but no one answered. In silence we drove passed a sign that said: 'Welcome to Lost Creek, Colorado, National Forest.'

I could only describe the Ranger Station with one word: shabby, the inside was dusty, with a once-bright carpet with dark patches staining areas of it, Sam was looking at the 3D map of the National Park, whilst Dean and I were looking at the tacky decorations on the walls. "So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote." Sam pointed out, I turned and saw he was gesturing to an area on the map labelled 'Blackwater Ridge' the only thing that worried me was the fact that I couldn't see any signs of civilisation near it apart from this station, and that was still a good several miles from the drop point. "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." He continued, his finger tracing the wide berth area of Blackwater Ridge, I gulped and shot Sam an uneasy look.

"Great. What do you think, Dean?" I turned to look at the older brother, but his attention was focused on something else entirely.

"Dude, check out the size of this frickin' bear!" Dean exclaimed, pointing to a large black and white photograph hanging above a mantel, I stepped closer for a better look and was amazed to see a man standing next to the largest bear I have ever seen. Sam stepped up beside us and stood next to me.

"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure." Sam sighed and tapped the grizzly picture.

"Great, just great." I moaned and Dean chuckled beside me.

"What? Not into hikes, sweet-cheeks?" He grinned and I hit him out of principal and glared.

"Don't get used to calling me that, Dean." I warned and we went back to staring at the photograph.

"You guys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" An aged voice sounded behind us and we whipped round, startled. An old man in a forest ranger's uniform was standing behind us.

"Oh, no, sir. We're enviromental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." Sam lied smoothly for us, chuckling a little beside me. Dean suddenly took hold of my hand and we both fist pumped, I shot a look at Dean and saw a huge, enthusiastic grin painted on his face.

"Recycle, man!" He cheered jubiantly, the old man didn't look too impressed.

"Bull." He crossed his arms and scoffed at us, Sam's eyes flickered to me and I rolled my eyes in return. "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?" The man asked us, none of us answered so I nodded.

"Yeah, she's one of my best friends, Ranger... Wilkinson." I smiled, checking the man's nametag.

"Well, I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a blackcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?" The ranger answered, I nodded in understanding.

"Yeah well, you know Haley, she's always been such a worryer, right from when we were kids." I shrugged and made a 'what can you do?' face.

"You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine." The ranger continued. I opened my mouth to answer but Dean put a hand on my shoulder.

"We will. But that Haley girl's a pistol, huh?" Dean smirked, I frowned but Dean squeezed my shoulder hard and I shut up.

"That is putting it mildly." The old man answered.

"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date." Dean shrugged, the ranger paused and Sam and I exchanged a look, we looked back and saw Dean raising his eyebrows innocently.

The three of us exited the station, Sam and I were quiet whilst Dean was holding up a piece of paper and grinning like a five year old. "What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam frowned at his older brother.

"What do you mean?" Dean shot us a confused look, I sighed and rolled my eyes at him: _boys._

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?" Sam asked, we all stopped next to Dean's car.

"I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?" Dean argued back, I was silent as I looked between the two brothers, Sam looked more confused than anything else.

"What?" The younger brother asked.

"Since when are you all 'shoot first ask questions later' anyway?" Dean crossed his arms and eyed his brother suspiciously.

"Since now." Sam answered in a firm voice and turned away, refusing to catch anyone's eye. Dean glanced at me and I shrugged at him, he shrugged back and I sighed in relief when I heard the car unlock, without waiting for another moment I opened the back door and slid in.

The backcountry permit had provided me with the basic information of Haley Collins, she was around Sam's age and lived alone with her two brothers, Tommy and Ben, and had been since their parents died, the permit hadn't provided Dean a picture but it had supplied him an address. We walked up to the house in silence, I could feel the tension between the two brothers and had decided to keep out of it. Dean stepped up and knocked on the front door and we waited for someone to answer, the door opened to reveal a pretty girl with dark wavy hair and dark eyes, much like me, but she wasn't as tall or as muscled as I was. Not that this surprised me - she didn't do what I did. "You must be Haley Collins, I'm Dean, this is Sam and, er..." Dean trailed off and frowned at me, I stepped up to the doorstep and smiled warmly at her.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie," I introduced myself smoothly, "We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over, he wanted us to ask a few questions about your older brother Tommy." I explained, the doubt that flickered in her eyes was no longer there, but she still looked suspicious.

"Let me see some ID." She asked, I faltered and looked back at Dean, edging a smile and giving him a look. He nodded and stepped up, bringing his ID out of his pocket, I glimpsed the name Dean Cole on it next to Wildlife Reserve Service. Haley's brow furrowed as she read it, then she looked up at Dean and he smiled. There was a pause. "Come on in." She moved aside and held the door wide open for us, her eyes looked at something behind us and she nodded her head to it. "That yours?" She asked. We looked back at Dean's shining black car and Dean himself nodded almost smugly to the girl. "Nice car." She nodded and walked on through, Dean followed behind. I stepped forward to the doorway and felt Sam's hand on my arm.

"Stephanie?" He asked a little dubiously.

"What? You didn't think Valkyrie was my real name, did you?" I smirked and scoffed, leaving him in the doorway. I found Dean and Hayley in the kitchen, another boy was sat at the table with his attention on a laptop, Ben, I assumed.

"So," Sam started as he leant against the kitchen counter, "If Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" He asked.

"He checks in everyday by cell. He emails, photos, stupid little videos - we haven't heard anything in three days now." She answered.

"Well, maybe he can't get any reception." I tried to reason with the girl, but she shook her head furiously.

"He's got a satellite phone too." She countered, I sighed and shrugged in return.

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean piped up from across the room.

"He wouldn't do that." Ben frowned at Dean from the table, Dean stared him down and Ben looked back at his laptop, Haley busies herself and puts more food on the table.

"Our parents are gone. It's just me and my two brothers, we all keep pretty close tabs on eachother." The girl explained.

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam asked, Dean whipped around and sent his brother a weird look, but Sam ignored him.

"Yeah." Haley shrugged, Ben slid his seat over as Hayley pulled up a chair to the table, she clicked on some files as the three of us crowded behind her, she pulled up some pictures of a guy in various poses in a tent. "That's Tommy." She pointed at the screen, the guy in the photos looked happy. Haley clicked on a tab and a video of Tommy came up, she clicked play and we listened in.

"Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe - so don't worry, ok? Talk to you tomorrow." The video clip ended and Hayley looked up at us.

"We'll find your brother, Haley, don't worry." I smiled and beside me Dean nodded.

"Stephanie's right, we're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing." He confirmed, at this Haley cracked a smile.

"Then maybe I'll see you there. Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy, I'm heading out in the morning and I'm gonna find Tommy myself." The smile was no longer warm - it had a hard edge of determination to it.

"I think I know how you feel." Dean agreed and I knew he was talking about finding his Dad, I had seen it in his eyes: Dean wanted nothing more than to find him and make sure he was safe.

"Do you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked, the girl looked confused but nodded.

"Sure."

We had found the local bar and were sat at a table out the way, Sam had his laptop and John Winchester's journal out on the table. "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there, they were never found." Sam stated as he opened the journal.

"Any before that?" I asked, Sam nodded and pulled out some newspaper articles and slid them across the table for Dean and I to read:

****Grizzly Bear Attacks!****

_**Up to eight hikers vanish in lost creek area – hikers disappearance baffles authorities**_

"And again in 1959 and also before that in 1936." Sam opened his laptop and began typing on it, the screen lighting up his face. "Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork. Okay, watch this - here's the clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop, check this out." Sam spun the laptop round so it faced us and clicked play, I expected to see the video Hayley had shown us but Sam had altered it, it was a two second clip with no sound, just Tommy in his tent. I frowned when I saw a shadow cross in the background and looked up at Sam.

"What was that?" I asked the boy, Sam shrugged and Dean frowned at him.

"Do it again, Sammy." Dean told him, Sam nodded and showed us again and this time it wasn't a trick of the mind: a shadow was definitely passing behind Tommy at an alarming pace.

"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second, whatever this thing is - it can move." Sam explained, reaching his hand out to take the laptop back. Dean hit him on the wrist and Sam jumped and looked up at his brother.

"Told you something weird was going on." Dean stated in a smug voice, I rolled my eyes and Sam grinned.

"Yeah." He said in an unenthusiastic tone, giving his brother a look as he took the laptop back. "I got one more thing." Sam added, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his jacket pocket and laid it on the table, smoothing the creases from it. I picked it up and studied it, it was an old newspaper article. "In '59 one camper survived a supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid, barely crawled out of the woods alive." Sam told us, I nodded and passed the paper back to him.

"Is there a name?" I asked.

We were stood inside the witness, Mr Shaw's, house. He was a lean, unshaven old man who stank of alcohol and cigarettes, we were stood in Mr Shaw's run down kitchen, he was leaning against the kitchen sink whilst Dean, Sam and I had chosen to stand and not touch anything.

"Look, rangers, I don't know know why you're asking me about this. It's public record, I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a-."

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Sam interrupted, Mr Shaw took a puff from his cigarette and nodded thoughtfully.

"The other people that went missing that year, were those bear attacks too?" I asked him, the man paused and Dean cleared his throat.

"If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it." Dean persuaded, Mr Shaw paused and sat at the kitchen table, Sam pulled up a chair opposite him.

"Mr Shaw, what did you see?" Sam asked gently.

"Nothing, it moved too fast to see. It hid too well, I heard it though. A roar. Like... No man or animal I've ever heard." Mr Shaw answered, he put his cigarette out and I frowned at the... Thing he'd described.

"It came at night?" I asked, Mr Shaw nodded and I cocked my head in confusion. "It got inside your tent?" I pressed.

"It got inside our cabin - I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door: it unlocked it. Do ou know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up 'til I heard my parents screaming." The man explained, his burnt out cigarette sent up wafts of smoke around the room and it made my nose twitch.

"It killed them?" Sam took over the question asking, Mr Shaw shook his head sadly.

"Dragged them off into the night." He answered, his voice shaking and his eyes teary. "Why it left me alive... Been asking myself that ever since." He finished sadly, Mr Shaw's hands went to his collar on his old, matted shirt. "Did leave me this, though." He opened up his collar to reveal three long scars resembling claw marks, Sam looked at me and I sent him a fearful look. "There's something evil in those woods, it's some sort of demon." He finished, a long silence followed after that.

Dean, Sam and I were walking along the corridors of the motel on the edge of town, "Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls." Dean pointed out, I had only recently been briefed on demons and their abilities, so I was feeling pretty left out of the conversation.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal." Sam reasoned.

"Corporeal? Excuse me professor." Dean frowned at his younger but taller brother, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up. So what do you think?" Sam asked.

"The claws, the speed that it moves... Could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it." Dean answered with a disturbing smile.

"Right, kill it... When we only have one shotgun between us." I rolled my eyes, although I knew full well that I had my magic but I couldn't predict how Sam and Dean would react if they found out about it.

"Oh Valkyrie, Valkyrie, Valkyrie... Do you prefer Valkyrie or Stephanie?" Dean's question threw me off and I looked up at him in shock.

"What?" I asked.

"Sam told me earlier that your real name is Stephanie. I was wondering why you changed your name permanently, I mean, is there something me and Sam should know that we don't?" He explained, I stopped walking and looked at both brothers, they had stopped with me and were staring at me intently.

"Well, uh, I changed my name because it was easier." I tried, but Dean frowned and shook his head.

"Easier how, exactly? Because, sure me and Dean use fake names for jobs but everyone knows us as Dean and Sam Winchester. But you've been using Valkyrie from the start, so what's the deal?" Dean pressed, I looked from him to Sam and sighed, then took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._

"Ok, well. My uncle died when I was eleven years old and he was a writer, he left all his royalties and stuff to me and I was staying round his house one night when a man came over demanding I let him in. I refused but he came in anyway, but someone else rescued me, he became my partner after that and he trained me to be a detective and fight and... Stuff. To do what I do, I had to leave home - so I took a new name." I shrugged and leaned back against the wall, Sam and Dean looked shocked.

"Ok, well... Wow." Sam stuttered and I managed a smile.

"Yeah, so that's why I took a new name." I shrugged again.

"So which do you prefer?" Dean asked, I paused for a moment before answering.

"I've been going with the name Valkyrie for seven years..." I paused again, "I don't mind, either is good, I guess." I stared at a spot on the floor, in the corner of my eye I saw the brothers exchange a look.

"Ok Stephanie, we don't only have one shotgun between us." Dean smirked at me, I cocked my head to one side and raised an eyebrow in question.

Outside in the parking lot, Dean opened the trunk and pointed to a huge, black box in the center of the trunk. "Sam, be a dear." He looked at his brother, Sam sighed and held open the trunk door so it wouldn't fall on Dean. Dean grabbed the box and slid it closer to him, "Only one shotgun between us, Stephanie? That's not exactly right..." Dean opened the box to reveal many, many weapons. Various knives and handguns could be seen, I could see at least five shotguns in view.

"Woah." I said in absolute awe.

"Yep. We're well prepared for, ah, various situations." Sam smiled as Dean started packing some weapons into a black duffel bag.

"Did you rob a guns store? Seriously, where did you get all this stuff?" I asked, my eyes on the rows of boxes of ammunition that were stacked on the sides of the box, Dean picked up several of them and dumped them into the bag.

"We just collected over the years, really. Loads of these are from Dad and others, but yeah. We just think: it's better to have loads than hardly any, really." Sam shrugged, I nodded as Dean zipped up the bag. "We cannot let that Hayley girl go out there." Sam stated, I looked at him, startled over the sudden change of subject.

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean scoffed at his brother, I half expected him to hit his younger brother on the back of the head.

"Yeah." Sam nodded, his tone firm.

"Sam, her brother's missing, I don't think she's gonna sit this one out." I told him, beside me Dean nodded.

"Steph's right, we're gonna go with her, protect her and keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." He said picking up the duffel bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam challenged, slamming the weapons box shut, then he slammed the trunk. I winced at the sound of the trunk and looked at Dean, expecting him to explode over his car. "Now we gotta babysit too?" He continued, Dean merely stared at his brother, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "What?" Sam didn't sound as confident anymore.

"Nothing." Dean said and walked away, I looked at Sam and saw he was staring after his brother, but I couldn't read the look on his face.

The next morning we pulled up before the woods, Haley and Ben were stood in their outdoor clothes, backpacks strapped to their backs. A man in a typical hikers outfit was stood with them, looking at us suspiciously. We piled out the car and stood in front of Dean's car whilst Sam opened the back door of the car and fetching the duffel bag. "You guys got room for two more?" Dean called to Haley.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" The girl asked, Dean shrugged and nodded. The man beside Haley tapped her shoulder.

"Who are these guys?" The man asked, frowning at Dean, Sam and I. I narrowed my eyes at him and leaned over and whispered to Sam.

"This guy looks like a douche." I whispered loudly, Dean overheard me and chuckled, whilst Sam grinned.

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." Haley cast her eyes over us, unimpressed.

"You're rangers?" The man spluttered, I smirked and nodded.

"That's right." I answered.

"And you're hiking out in biler boots and jeans?" Haley scoffed, looking down at Dean's outfit.

"Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts." Dean smirked at the girl, I burst out laughing and followed Dean as he passed the girl, the guide standing beside Hayley reached out and grabbed my arm painfully.

"What you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt." The man seethed, I sighed heavily and kicked out at his knee, it buckled and he gasped: his grip loosened a little on my arm. I reached out with my left hand and squeezed the nerve on his forearm, he cried out and released his grip altogether. I smiled sweetly as he fell to his knees clutching his arm and pressed the pressure point on his shoulder and leaned in close to his ear.

"You'll do well to remember that I can kick your ass into next week if you so much as lay one finger on me, you son of a bitch." I spoke low and threatening into his ear, he nodded and my smile sprung up again, I let go of his shoulder and turned; everyone was staring at me in shock. "Are we ready to go?" I asked innocently, Hayley and the boys nodded and my smile stretched wider. "Great. What are we waiting for?"

The forest soon swallowed us up, the trees were so dense I couldn't see the sky, Dean had suggested that we should all stick together like a tight-knit group, but the guide, Roy, had refused to even look at me, let alone walk with me; so he walked ahead of us. "Roy, you said you do a little hunting." Dean called to him, Roy didn't look back but he answered all the same.

"Yeah, more than a little." Roy's voice drifted back to us, Dean nodded and called out to him again.

"Uh-huh, what kind of furry critters did you hunt?" He continued.

"Mostly buck, sometimes bear." The guide answered curtly, Dean's walking pace sped up and he passed by Roy and then slowed his pace, so he fell into step beside Roy.

"Tell me," Dean continued, "Uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" He nudged him, I started sniggering which earned me a death glare from the hiker, Roy turned and grabbed Dean and the whole group stopped: Sam looked at me and I gave him a startled glance. "Watcha doing, Roy?" Dean asked calmly, a smirk tugging the edge of his mouth. But the guide took no notice of him, he picked up a fallen stick from a tree and put it on something on the ground, there was a horrific snapping sound and I jumped and stepped forward to see: Roy had placed the stick on a bear trap Dean's foot had almost stepped on. I shot him a worried look but he didn't take notice, he called past me and to the group. "It's a bear trap." He smiled and shook it off, but Roy leaned in close to Dean and whispered to him in an almost threatening tone.

"You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." Roy scoffed and retook the lead. Alone. Dean stared after him and then shrugged and rejoined our group.I walked with Dean for a little while until I felt the air shift behind us and I turned to see Haley catching up to us.

"You didn't pack any provisions, you guys are carrying a _duffel _bag. You're not rangers." She said angrily, pointing to the duffel bag Dean had slung over his shoulder, Dean and I exchanged a look but neither of us answered, Haley made an annoyed noise and grabbed his arm, making us come to a halt."So who the hell are you?" She demanded. Ben and Sam passed by us and Dean looked on in silence, then he turned to the girl.

"Sam and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and I: we're in the same boat." Dean explained, Haley's expression changed from an angry demand to a soft realisation.

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" She asked, Dean pulled a face.

"I'm telling you now, besides, it's probably the most honest I've been with a woman... Ever. So we okay?" He shrugged one shoulder, Haley looked at him for a long moment and then turned to me.

"And what about you?" She asked.

"Honestly? I was almost run over by this idiot, and I'm a detective: so I'm kinda tagging along with them and saving their asses along the way." I explained, she gave me a weird look but then nodded and looked at Dean again.

"So are you two, like, a thing?" She asked, there was a moment of silence which lasted all of two seconds before I burst out laughing, ahead of us Sam and Ben turned and gave us a startled look and then continued their walk. When I stopped giggling at the odd idea and caught the hurt look on Dean's face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just... the mere idea of you and me – makes me chuckle." I grinned, Haley smiled and we continued walking, she seemed much happier now.

"Anyway, what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean asked Haley, she turned with a confused look on her face and was met with Dean pulling out a bag of M&amp;M's and sticking his hand in it, Haley stared at him and I chuckled as I moved on and caught up with Sam and Ben.

After twenty minutes of more walking Sam, Ben, Hayley, Dean and I were taking a break and sitting on a large rock that we had deemed suitable to sit on. "Haley! Over here!" Roy's voice called out to us and we took off at a run in the direction in which it came from.

"Oh my God." Haley exclaimed, shock in her tone. I looked up and saw a ruined campsite... Although ruined didn't even begin to describe the scene before me: the tents were savagely slashed open, blood splattered various parts of it, what were once supplies were scattered around or smashed.

"Looks like a grizzly." Roy observed, looking grimly around the campsite. I gave Sam a look as Dean and Haley searched the savaged site.

"Tommmy?" The girl called, throwing down her backpack and walking through the ravaged site, "Tommy!" She shouted out his name even ouder, Sam ran up to the girl and gave her a panicked look.

"Shh." He said.

"Tommy!" Haley was screaming now, Sam looked at her and then at the dark forest.

"Shhhhhh!" He shushed her even louder.

"Why?"

"Something might still be out there." He answered in a low voice.

"Sam! Steph!" Dean called, we both walk over to where the older brother was crouched a little way from the campsite. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite," Dean pointed to a the overturned soil leading in a trail away from the bloodied scene, "But here, the tracks just vanish. It's weird." Dean pointed to where the overturned soil just disappeared.

"What does that mean?" I asked, giving the boys a confused look as we stood up.

"I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog." Dean replied, Sam and I followed him back to the campsite, I spotted Haley crying and looking at something in her hands, my insides turned cold as I saw it was her brother's phone, bloodied and broken in her hands. I walked over and crouched down beside her, my arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulder, she jumped and looked up at me with teary eyes.

"Hey, he could still be alive." I whispered to her, she merely sniffed and I prepared myself for the onslaught of the crying girl.

"Help! Help!" A male's voice called from the treeline, I caught Sam's eyes and everyone took off sprinting in the direction of the call, we slowed to a stop when we couldn't find anyone.

"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" I asked the group, they nodded and we were all silent as we listened out for another cry.

"Everybody back to camp." Sam ordered, we nodded in agreement and walked back to camp.

"Our packs!" Haley exclaimed as we reached the site, I looked around and saw that the girl was right: everyone's bags had been taken, including Dean and Sam's duffel bag of weapons.

"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." I heard Roy sigh from behind me.

"What the hell is going on?" Haley asked, I recognised hysteria bleeding in through her panicked tones.

"It's smart, it wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." Sam explained, shooting Dean a worried look.

"You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear." Roy replied, but he didn't get an answer I walked over to Sam with a concerned look on my face.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked him in a low voice so the other's wouldn't overhear, he grabbed my arm and tugged me over to where Dean was.

"I need to speak with you both. In private." Sam told us, we both nodded and headed over to where we were crouched looking at the tracks of someone being dragged away from the site. "Let me see Dad's journal. "He looked at his older brother, Dean nodded and pulled out the book from his jacket pocket. Sam flipped through it until he found a particular page, "All right, check that out." He said, pointing to a hastily but neatly drawn picture of a shaded picture.

"Oh come on, Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or – or Northern Michigan, I've never even heard of one this far west." Dean shook his head angrily at his younger brother, but Sam wouldn't back down.

"Think about it, Dean: the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam pressed, his eyes wide and boring deep into his brother's eyes.

"Wait, wait wait, I thought the Wendigos were just a myth: you know, the flesh eating giving it super-human abilities? It can't be real." I held up a hand and shook my head at Sam, Dean chuckled and grasped my shoulder's and looked down at me.

"Oh Stephanie, think again, sweet-cheeks." He grinned and I glared slits at him.

"Don't call me that!" I moaned and Dean chuckled again. "Anyway, so what can kill the Wendigo?" I asked, Dean sighed and reached into his other pocket and pulled out his pistol.

"Definitely not this, it's rendered useless against the so of a bitch." He complained and angrily shoved it back into his pocket.

"Oh joy of joys." I moaned and rolled my eyes.

"We don't need to worry about that now, we need to get these people to safety." Sam replied, we all nodded and walked back into the middle of the site where Ben, Haley and Roy had gathered.

"All right, listen up: it's time to go. Things have gotten... More complicated." He addressed the group, Haley was the first to speak up.

"What?" She asked.

"Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy gave Sam the most patronising look, making me narrow my eyes at the arrogant guide.

"It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now." Sam warned the group, but Roy shook his head in disagreement.

"One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." The guide argued and I sighed loudly.

"Just shut up, Rick." I glared at the man, he looked shocked for a moment before his eyes turned dark with anger.

"Why you insolent little-." He started striding towards me but Dean stepped forward with his hands out.

"Hey hey hey, relax." Dean tried.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you." Sam continued, giving me a warning look but I ignored it.

"You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your Mommy was still kissing you good night." Roy scoffed, stepping up into Sam's face.

"Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here." Sam warned again, looking down at the everyone's surprise the ranger merely laughed at him.

"You know you're crazy, right?" He sniggered, looking at the three of us in amazement.

"Yeah? You ever hunt a wen-." Sam was interrupted by Dean shoving him and giving him a look.

"Roy!" Haley called to her guide and he walked off.

"Chill out, both of you." He said, looking between Sam and I.

"Stop. Stop it," Haley looked at her guide in annoyance, "Everybody just stop, look, Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." She stated, a long pause followed her statement.

"It's getting late, this thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark – we need to settle in and protect ourselves." Dean broke the silence with his advice, Haley crossed her arm and raised an eyebrow at him: that was _my _thing.

"How?" She asked him.

Dean and Sam were drawing out symbols on the dirt and had told me to light the campfire, Haley was talking with her brother and Roy was staring at Sam and Dean. I checked to see that no one was looking and clicked my fingers and conjured a flame in my hand, pouring my energy into it before dropping it onto the fire. The wood instantly caught fire and the glow from the roaring flames illuminated the surrounding area. "Thanks, Stephanie!" Haley called over to me, I merely shrugged and gave her a small smile before walking back to where Dean and Sam were drawing on the ground.

"Run it by me again – what are those?" I asked the older brother.

"Anasazi symbols, they're for protection, the wendigo can't cross over them." He explained, behind us Roy laughed, the fire illuminated his silhouette and making his shodow large and dark, stretching out towards us. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean called out over to the ranger. Once Dean had finished we headed over to where Sam was seated on the edge of the campsite. "You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" He asked, ruffling his younger brother's hair.

"I'm-."

"No, you're not fine. You're like a power keg, man – it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" Dean cut Sam off before he could so much as utter the words: _I'm fine_.

"Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would've left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam asked, his voice riddled with doubt. Dean sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right To tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek." He agreed, I watched the two in silence, the orange glow from the fire lighting up one half of their faces in the dark.

"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?" Sam questioned.

"This is why." Dean answered, he pulled out his Dad's journal from his pocket and held it up for the two of us to see. "This book, this is Dad's single most valuable possession – everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it onto us, I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know: saving people, hunting things – the family business." He explained, flicking through the pages of the battered journal for emphasis.

"That makes no sense, why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?" Sam shook his head in annoyance and held his head in his hands, rubbing his temples.

"I dunno, but the way I see it: Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it." Dean shrugged and Sam lifted his head out his hands and gave his older brother a serious look.

"No, I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." He admitted in a quiet voice.

"Okay, all right. Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me, you've gotta prepare yourself. This search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul, it's gonna kill you... You gotta have patience, man." Dean explained to his brother.

"How do you do it? How does Dad do it?" Sam suddenly asked, Dean sighed and took a deep breath, his gaze switched from us to the people behind us.

"Well for one, them." He explained, Sam and I both looked over to where Dean was looking and saw he was watching Ben and Haley sat next to the fire, Haley's arm was draped over her younger brother's shoulder. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Make things a little bit more bearable." He shrugged and broke his gaze from the boy and girl crouched next to the fire. "I'll tell you what else helps." He added, Sam and I looked back to Dean, the older brother paused for needless effect. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." He smirked, I giggled and Sam edged a smile, behind us a twig snapped off in the forest and we both jumped and looked into the deep, dark woods.

"Help me! Please!" A voice begged from the darkness, we all stood up at the same time and looked off into the forest, Dean pulled his gun from his pocket and readied it. "Help!" The cry of despair continued, some of the trees closest to us were lit up when Sam flicked a torch on and shone it round.

"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." I called over to the group, trying to harness some comfort into the crowd.

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy sent me a questioning look and I glared at him.

"It's either stay put here, or I feed you to it." I bit out at him.

"Help! Help me!" The wendigo continued, the hysteric tones drifted over to us. It was quiet when no one moved, then a deep, monstrous growling emitted from the forest and Roy pointed his gun at the sound.

"Okay, that's no grizzly." He admitted, his gun trained on a single spot in the woods.

"It's ok, you'll be alright. I promise." Haley was speaking to her brother and hugging him tightly, speaking soothing tones in Ben's ear as she comforted him. I felt the air shift violently in front of me and felt the wind rush past as something dashed around the area in front of us, I widened my eyes in amazement and fear: _what creature could run at such a blinding speed? How can we kill it, if we can't even _see _it?_

"It's here." I muttered to the two brother's, they were stood at the edge of the circle and looking out into the forest. There was a rustling in the trees about two metres to my left, I jumped when I head a gunshot and dived to the right, jumping again as a second shot was fired.

"I hit it!" Roy's triumphant shout sounded behind me and he ran past me to the forest.

"Roy, no! Roy!" Dean called after him, he turned to Ben and Haley and gave them both stern looks, "Don't move." He ordered, then the three of us tore after the guide into the forest: the exact place where I _did not_ want to go.

"It's over here! It's in the tree!" We saw Roy pointing up at a tree, a wide grin set on his face. I felt the air shift above him and saw something, a flicker of a thing, reach down and grab Roy's neck and a sickening crunch sounded. I cried out and blinked, that's it: one blink and Roy had disappeared, the wendigo had disappeared.

I was quiet at the campsite for the rest of the night, it shook me to see something kill someone with such ease, and I felt even worse because I didn't exactly like the guy, so not feeling bad at all was just the worst. "He ran right by me, I mean I could've just grabbed him and stopped him... Maybe if-."

"Steph stop it. You couldn't have done anything to prevent Roy running out away from the site, ok?" Dean called over to me I looked up and he was giving me a small, unconvincing smile.

"Yeah." I muttered and went back to staring at the outer circles on a tree stump.

"I don't... I mean, these types of things – they aren't supposed to be real." Haley spoke up: on the way back to the campsite last night shortly after Roy's disappearance Sam and Dean had made the decision to tell Haley and Ben about the supernatural world.

"I wish I could tell you different." Dean sighed sadly and gave the poor girl a sympathetic look.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" She asked, her dark eyes darting around the forest beyond the campsite.

"We don't-."

"It is." The words came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them, I closed my eyes and sighed, at least it was the truth: I could feel the air shift slightly, the currents dabbling lightly under my palms letting me know that the wendigo was out there and close by.

"But we're safe for now..." Dean finished, giving me an odd look as I turned slowly to face the crowd.

"Ok. Great... How do you all know about this stuff?" Haley asked, she gave me a questioning look before switching her gaze to Dean. Dean paused a while as he considered the question, he suddenly shrugged with a wide smirk painted on his face.

"Kinda runs in the family." He answered, Haley nodded slowly and it was silent for a while, Sam walked over and smiled at us all.

"Hey," He addressed the crowd, "So we've got half a chance in the daylight, and I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch.

"Well, hell you know I'm in." Dean smiled at his brother, Sam smiled back at his older brother and I felt all the more safer.

"Need you ask?" I piped up, Sam grinned at me and I shrugged one shoulder, I stood up from the tree stump and stretched my legs. I walked over to the group as Sam was showing the drawing of the wendigo from his Dad's journal to Ben and Haley.

"Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'." He told the group, pointing to the drawing whilst Dean came up and stood next to his brother.

"They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man, sometimes an Indian. Other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." Dean explained, Haley and Ben nodded slowly, glancing from Dean to the drawing.

"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Haley asked, Dean made a grim expression and got his pistol out and started fiddling with it.

"Well, it's the same thing every time. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or group." He said, unloading and fiddling with the bullets.

"Like the Donner Party." Ben muttered.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities: speed, strength and immortality." Sam continued, his eyes flickered to the area in the forest where we had run after Roy last night, and guilt washed over me again.

"If you eat enough of it, over the years, you become this... less than human thing. You're always hungry." Dean explained, his nose twitching in disgust as he described the monster that lurked in the woods.

"So, if that's true: how can Tommy still be alive?" Haley asked, Dean shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the girl.

"You're not gonna like it." He hedged, unwilling to share the information that he held. He glanced at Sam and then back to Haley, she looked unfazed at the two boys.

"Tell me." She ordered, her tone firm and her expression fixed in hard sangfroid.

"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there." Dean explained, Haley's face drained and went as white as a sheet. I looked down and saw that her legs were shaking a little.

"And then how do we stop it?" She asked, forcing the fear out of her voice.

"Well," Dean looks down at his gun and made an annoyed face, "Guns are useless, so are knives. Basically..." Dean held up a battered can of lighter fluid, a beer bottle and a torn piece of the tent, "We gotta torch the bastard." He smiled, I couldn't help but grin and shake my head at him.

Dean led the way through the woods, I held my hands out discreetly to my side to detect any, _any_ movement that passed by us, Dean was at the front armed with his man-made flamethrower, I was close behind him ready to warn the group in case I saw something unusual. Sam was behind the group keeping an eye out for Haley and Ben as they walked close beside eachother. I felt the air shift and brush against my palms and I stopped walking and looked around the woods, my ears straining to hear that horribly familiar whooshing noise that indicated the wendigo was nearby. I looked up and noticed something on the trees, I squinted and then realised what they were. "Sam. Dean." I called them over.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he and Sam neared. I nodded my head upwards and they looked up at the trees: there were bloodied patches on the trunks and there were deep, vicious grooves that were unmistakeably claw marks.

"You know, those claw prints, they seem almost... too clear, too easy to follow." Sam observed, I found myself nodding: he was right, the marks seemed like they had been put there intentionally. A twig snapped and a deep growling came from the bushes to our right, the three of us whipped around to it, I held my palms out trying to feel for the air currents against my palms. Haley was stood under a tree looking up with us, I heard a familiar dripping sound and I looked over to her. I cringed when I saw a dark red seeping on her shoulder, Haley looked up and then dived out the way, a corpse landed where she was stood. The corpse rolled over and I recognised it as Roy, Haley cried, jumped up and ran over to us, she threw her arms round me and cried whilst Dean walked over and inspected the body.

"His neck's broke." Dean observed grimly as I tried to prise myself away from the distraught girl. Growling sounded behind us and I shot Sam a panicked look. "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!" Dean exclaimed, we all took off through the trees, Dean and I veered off to the left and I risked to look behind me and relaxed when we saw it was Haley – of course she would follow Dean instead of Sam. The whooshing noise passed beside us and I went left whilst Dean and Haley continued onwards, I tripped and fell over a tree root and sprawled on the floor. Strong arms grasped my waist and suddenly I was up on my feet again, I went to lash out with my arm: expecting it to be the wendigo. A hand caught my fist and my eyes widened when I saw Sam.

"Come on, I gotcha, I gotcha." Sam's voice was in my ear and I nodded, my eyes wide with fright. I slowed down when I felt the air for anything that may have been in pursuit and came up with nothing, Sam and Ben stopped with me and we stood gasping for air. "Why did you stop? The wendigo coul-."

"The wendigo isn't following us, Sam." I told him, Sam frowned at me.

"How could you possibly know that?!" Sam gave me a confused look, I opened my mouth to lie but a scream cut me off.

"Haley?" Ben looked at us in panic, we tore after the noise and stopped short when we saw a familiar item on the ground, Sam stooped and picked it up: it was Dean's home made flamethrower. Fear seeped through me as Sam looked wildly around the forest for his brother.

"Dean!" He shouted.

Sam, Ben and I were hiking, yet again, through the forest. "If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked, he seemed to have gained more confidence since Haley had disappeared: I think it was the adrenaline mixed with the burning desire to retrieve his older siblings.

"Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off." Sam answered bluntly, I blinked in surprise but shook it off: Sam was much more concerned to kill this wendigo and get Dean back more than ever. Ben stopped walking and picked something up from the ground, I expected it to be a finger or something cliché like that, but it was an M&amp;M.

"They went this way." Ben pointed up ahead of him and I saw another bunch of the brightly coloured sweets scattered around next to a fallen tree, Sam took the sweet from Ben and laughed.

"It's better than breadcrumbs." Sam shrugged and I managed a laugh as he tossed the M&amp;M away into the green tundra. It was much easier now we were following Dean's trail, we soon reached an entrance that looked like it led to an abandoned mine, there was a large sign with large, red writing:

**WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER – EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL! NO ADMITTANCE!**

Sam looked up at the sign and then at me, I shrugged and walked on inside, resisting the urge to click my fingers and conjure a flame so I could see through the darkness of the damp, gloomy mine. A few more steps and I was tempted to expose myself for the ability of sight. Thankfully Sam's torch flashed on and a white beam cut through the gloom, deep, ferocious growling sounded ahead of us and the torch beam cut off and we flattened ourselves against the wall, the wendigo prowled towards us in the dark, stones skittering across the floor in the pitch black as it neared us. I held my breath as the sound of the wendigo passed by us, we waited a minute when silence fell, another half a minute before Sam flicked his torch on again. We continued on in the opposite direction the wendigo had gone, our feet left the hard, stony earth and went on wooden floorboards, they creaked and groaned under our weight and then suddenly the broke open, the three of us tumbled down and crashed onto the cold, damp ground. I felt a sickening crunch beside me and saw Sam's foot resting on a broken skull that must have shattered when he landed on it, Ben suddenly leapt backward and Sam steadied him. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay." Sam shushed him, Ben nodded, his breathing heavy. I saw Sam's torch in the corner of the room, the light still shining brightly, I got up and walked over to the small object on shaky legs. I stooped and picked it up, ignoring the protests that my aching muscles made, once the torch was in my grip I shone it over Sam and Ben, they both looked fine. I surveyed the shaft we had fallen down and rope hanging from the ceiling caught my eye, the beam traced down the rope and I gasped at who was hanging on the end of it.

"Dean!" I called out, throwing the torch to Sam and Ben and rushing over to him, he was unconscious but seemed alright, albeit a little bloody. Sam was soon next to me, shaking his shoulders roughly, fear painted on the younger brother's face.

"Dean!" He begged, slapping him lightly on the face, I sighed in relief when Dean opened his eyes and winced.

"Dean, you ok?" I asked him, he nodded slowly.

"Yeah." He groaned, beside us Ben was trying to awaken his sister.

"Haley, Haley. Wake up, wake up!" Ben was saying to his sister, I searched the floor for a stone sharp enough to cut through the rope that bound Dean. I found a stone that would do the trick, if enough force was applied. I jumped when Dean lands on the ground next to me, his hands free, he leaned against me as he coughed painfully, I grabbed one arm whilst Sam grabbed the other and we carefully led Dean to the floor as he sat down painfully on the floor.

"You sure you're alright?" Sam asked his brother, Dean grimaced but nodded all the same.

"Yeah. Yep. Where is he?" Dean asked.

"He's gone for now." I told him, beside us Haley was conscious and staggering over to something in the far corner of the shaft.

"Tommy..." She cried mournfully, I looked up and saw she was looking at another body hanging from the ceiling. In the halflight she touched the boy's cheek and he jerked awake, Haley jumped back and shrieked before turning to me.

"Cut him down, now!" She demanded, I narrowed my eyes at her attitude but held my hand out to Sam for the rock he used to free Dean. He handed it to me and I strode over to the boy, presumably Tommy, and I cut him down. Tommy fell and weakly slumped into Haley's arms, she stroked his head soothingly and whispered into his ear soothingly, "We're gonna get you home." She told him, Ben had picked up the torch and was shining it around the room.

"Look! Our stuff." Ben said, we turned around to where Ben was shining the light and we were met with the familiar sight of our stolen packs. I walked over to our duffel bag and zipped it open, there were flare guns on top of the many weapons in the bag, I held them up and smirked at the two brothers.

"Check it out, you said fire can kill it, right?" I said, Sam managed a sideways grin as he looked up from his brother.

"Flare guns, those'll work." He grinned wider and I laughed and twirled the guns in my hands. Haley and Ben were supporting their brother behind us. The all too familiar deep, primal growling echoed around the mine, I looked frantically around for the monster but couldn't see it anywhere.

"Looks like someone's home for supper." Dean joked, but it didn't calm the Collin's like I knew he wanted to.

"We'll never outrun it." Haley stated hopelessly, Dean cast a look back at the three siblings.

"You two thinking what I'm thinking?" Dean's gaze returned to Sam and I, Sam nodded but I frowned.

"Yeah, I think so." Sam replied, Dean looked over at me and we locked eyes.

"Alright, listen to me, Steph, stay with Sam and the other's - I'm trusting you and him to protect the others." Dean addressed me, he was trusting me to help Sam and him save Haley and her brothers. I nodded firmly and he smiled.

"What are you gonna do?" Haley called to him, he caught my eye and winked before breaking away from the group and sprinting off in the distance.

"Chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby. I taste _good_." I heard Dean's taunting yell as he faded out in the distance as we ran along.

"Alright, come on! Hurry!" Sam urged the group, Haley nodded and we continued on down the tunnel.

Growling echoed down the tunnel behind us and Sam and I stopped and allowed Tom, Ben and Haley to pass in front of us, Sam had his gun trained on the dark passageway.

"Why are you stopping? Come on." Haley said to us, Sam and I shook our heads at her.

"Get him outta here." Sam told her, the girl shook her head.

"Sam, Stephanie, no." She disagreed.

"Go, go, go!" Sam shouted at them, Ben grabbed his sister's arm and looked at her.

"Come on, Haley!" Ben told her, she caved and they both help their injured brother down the tunnel. Immediately Sam and I whirled, Sam's gun up and ready to fire at anything, _anything _that lurked in the dark.

"Come on. Come on." Sam murmured, the growling got deeper and louder, the air shifted wildly around us and I let out a scream when the wendigo appeared in front of us, it had the shape and rough build of a man, but it's skin was dark and leathery and it's face was something monstrous. Something inhuman. It bared its fangs at us and roared, Sam fired the flare gun but I saw the flare miss and illuminate the tunnel behind the wendigo. "Run!" He yelled and we sprinted away and reached Haley and her brothers, they stopped and looked back at us.

"Sam! Stephanie!" She called out to us, the air shifted again behind me and I sent them a look of urgency.

"Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry." I told them, they turned again and started hurrying to the edge of the tunnel where daylight was draping in.

"Get behind me." Sam says, I looked up at him and shook my head.

"I can help." I argued, but Sam shook his head.

"Stephanie, I'm the one with the only weapon that can kill it." He finalized, "Just stay here." He grabbed me and shoved me behind him, we backed up until I bumped into Ben and saw the wall we had been backed up into. I waited two seconds before I glared at the monster.

"Screw this." I scoffed and stepped past Sam, he look at me with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?!" He cried out to me, but I ignored him, the wendigo watched as I stepped away from the group and smirked as it followed after me, I clicked my fingers and smiled as the wendigo stopped and actually tilted it's head in confusion. I threw the fire ball in my hand and grinned as it hit the wendigo in the stomach, the fire seared through it's torso and it went up in flames. "Finally." I sighed and turned to the group, they were looking at me in shock.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Haley exclaimed, I managed a wry grin despite everything.

"Long story." I answered, footsteps approached behind us and Dean approached us, his gun aimed and ready.

"Where is the son of a bitch?" He demanded, looking like a child who'd been cheated in a game.

"Uhh..."

I stood with Sam as Ben, Sam and I were interviewed by a police officer, a little way off Dean and Haley were talking whilst Tommy was getting loaded into the ambulance."And the bear came back again after you yelled at it?" The officer asked us.

"That's when it circled the campsite. I mean, this grizzly must have weighed eight hundred, nine hundred pounds." Ben answered, the officer glanced at Sam and I and we both nodded convincingly.

"Alright, we'll go after it first thing." The officer said and I smiled widely at him.

"Thank you, officer." I said politely, the officer walked off and Ben turned to us.

"So, I guess me and Haley can't thank you enough for what you guys did back there for us." Ben smiled, Sam and I shrugged at the same time.

"It's nothing, really." Sam answered.

"Running for our lives through some godforsaken mine is not nothing." Ben shook his head in disagreement, "Thank you both so much for your help." He repeated, I nodded and then I was suddenly being enveloped in a tight hug.

"Ben... Struggling to breathe." I gasped, he nodded and let go and I sucked in great lungfuls of air whilst Sam laughed.

"Thanks man." Sam shook Ben's hand and we walked over to Dean and Haley, she was kissing him on the cheek and looking up into his eyes dreamily.

"I hope you find your father again." She said to Dean in an earnest voice, she turned and passed us and stopped and looked at the two of us. "Thanks, Sam," The girl smiled up at him, Sam nodded and then she turned to me, "Stephanie, I don't know how you can do the things that you did but they saved me and my family's life. Thank you for that." She looked at me gratefully, I pulled a face and shrugged.

"It really wasn't that much trouble, Haley, but you're welcome." I smiled at her, she nodded and headed off to the ambulance with her younger brother. We joined Dean leaning on the hood of his car as we watched the ambulance drive away.

"Guys, I hate camping." He stated and I smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Me too." Sam agreed.

"Sam, you know you're gonna find Dad, right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I know. But in the meantime?" He looked over at me, "You have some explaining to do, and you," He turned to Dean, "I'm driving."

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for your previous reviews, when I get to 5 I will upload Chapter 3!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: 6 reviews! It really does tell me your enthusiasm for this story, and don't you worry: I'm taking all your criteria and trying to apply it to improve this story.**

Winchester and Cain Chapter 03 – Dead in the Water

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

We had decided to stop at a hotel called The Lynnwood Inn, Sam had been playing the game of twenty questions ever since we had pulled out of Blackwater Ridge and onto the highway, and even after I had told him basically my whole life story he still seemed to have a countless number of questions for me. "So, if there are two bases of magic, is there a stronger one than the other? I mean, which is stronger – an elemental or an adept?" He asked, I pulled a face as I tried to pick my words carefully for an answer.

"Well it really depends, Sam, an adept doesn't always have to be attack-based: it can be mental-based too. Like, I know quite a few psychics, they're known as Sensitives. An elemental's power relies, of course, on the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water." I explained, Sam nodded and leaned in closer with curiosity shining in his dark eyes.

"I noticed a few things about you, when we were chased off that bridge by Constance Welch's ghost you and Dean fell straight into the river and came out soaking wet, I remember Dean and I checked to see if the car was okay almost immediately after, and when we turned back to you I remember you were bone dry, just a little muddy." Sam responded, I nodded slowly and opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off.

"And when we were at the campsite yesterday you said the wendigo was still out there, even though we couldn't see it or anything – you sounded so sure, Steph. How did you know?" Dean piped up, looking up from the newspaper he was looking at. I gave them both a small smile and nodded again.

"That's because I'm an elemental, I can... manipulate the elements and control them to some degree. Yesterday I was using the air to detect the wendigo when we were in Blackwater Ridge, when we were thrown off the bridge I used the air again to dry myself whilst you and Dean checked his car." I explained, the two brothers stared at me in amazement, I shifted uncomfortably and drummed the first few bars of _Man in the Wilderness _by_ Styx _on the table.

"So, uh, aside the fire throwing, the air using and all. Is there anything else we should know about?" Dean asked, I stopped tapping and looked at the ring on my finger and sighed and took it off and held it up for them to see.

"When someone like me reaches a certain age, they have their Surge – after that you can only be an Adept or an Elemental, never both. I haven't had my Surge yet, and I've kind of dabbled a little." I explained, putting the ring back on my finger, instantly I felt better with it on.

"Dabbled in what?" Sam asked.

"It's nothing." I decided, hopefully they wouldn't have to know the talent I had for the manipulation of death-magic. Sam frowned an opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a waitress coming over.

"Can I get you three anything else?" She asked, giving a dentist ad smile. Dean looked up from his newspaper and grins at her, I roll my eyes and smiled politely up at the girl.

"Just the cheque, please." I asked her, the waitress's smile faded a little when she turned to me, and I saw hostility in her eyes.

"Okay." She answered and walked away, Dean stared longingly after her for a moment before looking at us.

"You know, guys, we are allowed to have fun once in a while." Dean sighed, and turned and pointed to the waitress, "That's fun." He did that charming grin of his but it dropped when neither Sam or I smiled back at him. Dean rolled his eyes and slid the newspaper he had been pouring over all morning to us, I frowned when I saw he'd circled an obituary. "Here, take a look at this, I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year – none of the other bodies were found either, they had a funeral two days ago." Dean cliff-noted for me while Sam read the article, he looked up at his brother in confusion.

"A funeral?" He asked, confusion lacing his tone.

"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever." Dean replied with a shrug.

"Closure? What closure?" I asked, the two boys both looked up at me and I shrugged, "I mean, people don't just disappear, guys. Other people just stop looking for them." Dean narrowed his eyes at me and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"Something you want to say to me?" He demanded, I didn't even bat an eyelid at the angry older brother.

"The trail for your Dad, it's getting colder every day." I pointed out and Dean nodded.

"Exactly, so what are we supposed to do?" He asked again, to this I had no answer to.

"I don't know, your guess is as good as mine: Something, anything." I shrugged, unfazed by his sudden anger.

"You know what? I'm already sick of Sam's attitude, if you start, Stephanie I swear to God I will leave you on the road and leave you. I swear it's like you and Sam think I don't wanna find Dad at all." He bit out, I saw the hurt in his eyes and decided to backtrack a little.

"Yeah, I know you want to find him. It's just-."

"Look, Stephanie. I'm the one who's been with him every single day for the past two years, while Sammy here has been off to college going to pep rallies. Mark my words we will find my Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything and anything bad between here and there. Got it?" He grated, I nodded once whilst beside me Sam rolled his eyes at his older brother.

"Dean, don't be harsh to Stephanie, she's probably just frustrated about the wild goose chase we're on for finding Dad." Sam defended me, but it was needless. The waitress had walked by and Dean was distracted, Sam snapped his fingers in front of him, "Hey, hey, hey!" He said, Dean's head snapped back to us and he sent us a slightly dazed look.

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Sam sighed, then he drummed his hands on the table, "Lake Manitoc, how far?" He asked.

I fell asleep in the car and woke up to the car driving past a sign that read:

**WELCOME TO LAKE MANITOC WI**

Dean and Sam were arguing, once again, over Dean's music choice. "That's it, Dean. I can't take it anymore, I'm gonna get you an Ipod and we are both gonna sit down together and add music that we _both_ like and it will make these car rides more enjoyable." Sam moaned and Dean shook his head violently.

"Sorry Sammy, only you like _Bangles _in the family. And besides, we've been through this. Family rules, remember." Dean glared at him and then turned his attention back to the driving, Sam opened his mouth to retaliate but then sighed and stayed quiet. "I just don't understand why you complain all the time, Stephanie doesn't." Dean pointed out.

"That's because she's normally asleep in the back." Sam sighed and I leant forward and tapped him on the back, he jumped and snapped his head back and glared, whilst Dean laughed loudly from the driver's seat. "Don't do that! It's not funny!" Sam glared daggers at me and I smirked.

"You should have seen your face!" Dean had a grin so wide I was worried his face was going to split.

Dean was still giggling as we pulled up outside a house located on the edge of town, Sam had sulked for the rest of the way whilst I was rifling through Dean's music collection, I had to say: it wasn't too bad. "Sombre faces on, team." Dean sighed as we walked up to the house, I made sure I had the correct fake ID in my pockets in case we had to get them checked. He knocked on the door and a man who looked to be in his late twenties opened it. "Will Carton?" Dean asked, remembering the name from the obituary this morning.

"Yeah, that's right." He answered, his eyes glanced at me and Sam, lingering particularly on me. I subconsciously looked back and stepped out of view behind the brothers.

"I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamill and Agent Bonham." He said, gesturing to each of us as he introduced us. "We're with the US Wildlife Service." He said in a professional voice and held up his fake ID.

"Ok, come on through, Dad's through here." Will opened the door wide open for us and we all walked through the shabby house, dirty dishes and outdated newspapers littered everywhere and empty beer cans were piled up on tables and chairs. We were led all through the house and out the back door, the lake was a short walk down the end of the Carlton's garden and through a short stretch of woodland. The lake stretched far out from a small dock and the surface shimmered in the sunlight, an aging man was sat on a chair on the dock looking out at the sparkling surface.

"She was about a hundred yards out." The man rasped sadly, his voice throaty.

"That's where she got dragged down." Will pointed out to a spot on the lake.

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" I asked, doubt seeping into my tone.

"She was a varsity swimmer." Will stated flatly, I frowned and nudged the two boys.

"What's a varsity swimmer?" I whispered, Sam smiled a little and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, Steph." He rolled his eyes and I sighed. _Americans._

"Yeah, she practically grew up in this lake, she was as safe out there as in her own bathtub." Will continued, looking at me like I was an idiot. It annoyed me to no end.

"So, uh, no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam took over, seeing me glaring at the young Carlton.

"No, that's what I'm telling you." Will shook his head.

"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark breach in the surface?" Sam asked, both the Carltons looked at Sam weirdly, they exchanged a look and then looked back at us.

"No. Again, she was really far out there." Will stated, his toe firm and slightly annoyed.

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked, sensing Will's irritation at Sam.

"No. Never. Why? What do you think's out there?" Will asked, crossing his arms and looking interestedly at Dean.

"We'll let you know as soon as we do." He smiled and turned away for the car. He made two steps and I turned to follow, but Sam stayed where he was.

"What about your father?" I heard Sam asked, Dean and I stopped and turned back to them, "Can we talk to him?" He asked again, Will looked at his Dad but his Dad had turned back to the lake and was staring sadly out at it. Will sighed and stepped closer to us, looking back at his Dad before speaking.

"Look," He started, his voice a low whisper, "If you don't mind, I mean... he didn't see anything and he's been through a lot." He explained, his eyes a little dull.

"We understand." Sam nodded in agreement and turned to join Dean and I as we walked back up to the car.

We headed straight to the police station from the Carlton residence, a man named Sheriff Jake Devins sat us in his office to talk in private about Sophie's death. "Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Jake asked, looking at the three of us suspiciously. He looked to be in about his mid-forties, and had hard grey eyes that bored into you.

"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." Sam challenged, leaning forward in his chair.

"Like what?" The Sheriff raised his eyebrow dubiously. "There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake." He smirked, looking at the three of us in turn, "There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster." He snorted.

"Yeah." Dean said, giving Jake a weird look. The Sheriff laughed and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and sigh.

"Right." I muttered, sharing a glance with Sam.

"Will Carlton was traumatised, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still-," Jake paused and took off his hat and set it down on the desk before him, "We dragged that entire lake, we even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure. There is nothing down there." Jake explained, Dean nodded and leant on the desk, his expression thoughtful.

"That's weird though, I mean: that's – that's the third missing body this year." He pointed out, his tone light.

"I know, these are people from my town. These are people I care about." Jake replied in a firm, hard tone.

"We know." I responded, Jake nodded slowly and leant back in his chair and sighed.

"All this... it won't be a problem much longer." Jake said, rubbing the back of his head.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well, the dam of course." Jake explained, saying it as if we should know what that meant, nevertheless Dean nodded along.

"Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it's sprung a leak." Dean smiled and made his tone sound knowing of the topic, I fought to keep a straight face as Jake looked at him closely and frowned.

"It's falling apart! And the Feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. Won't be much of a town either, but as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that." Jake scoffed and the three of us nodded on cue.

"Exactly." Dean agreed, Jake frowned at us and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a tapping on the door, we all turned our heads to see a young woman standing there with an apologetic expression on her face.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked, we stood up and shook our heads but she bit her lip nervously and looked at Jake, "I can come back later." She offered.

"Nonsense, this is my daughter." He introduced the woman to us and we nodded, Dean stepped forward with his charming smile and shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Dean." He smiled wider in greeting and she nodded.

"Andrea Barr. Hi." She replied.

"Hi." Dean repeated, raising his eyebrows. Behind him, Sam and I exchanged pained looks of embarrassment.

"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Jake explained to Andrea and she nodded once.

"Oh." She murmured, a boy walks in and looks up at the three of us in shock, Dean smiles down at him cheerily.

"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked, the boy looked at the three of us in stunned silence and then turned and walked back out the office, Andrea followed close behind.

"His name is Lucas." Andy explained as he put his hat on and exited the office, the three of us in tow. We entered the main room of the station to find Andrea and Lucas at one of the chairs, Andrea was giving him a box of crayons.

"Is he ok?" Sam asked, looking at the boy with concern on his face.

"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Jake explained sadly, a woman exited the office and motioned for him to come over and he nodded and turned to us, "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

"Thanks. You know, now that you've mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asked.

"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner, it's about two blocks south." Andrea answered, stepping into earshot.

"Would you mind showing us?" Dean asked the young woman innocently, Andrea laughed and looked at him doubtfully.

"You want me to walk you two blocks?" She asked and Dean nodded.

"Not if it's any trouble." He replied, Sam shook his head and laughed behind him, but Dean pretended not to notice.

"I'm headed that way anyway." Andrea shrugged and turned to Jake, who was still stood with us, "I'll be back to pick Lucas up at threee." She told him and then looked at her son, who was quietly staring at his Mum. "We'll go to the park, ok, sweetie?" She smiled and walked over and kissed him on the head and we left the station, Dean walking next to Andrea with Sam and I behind them.

"So, cute kid." Dean smiled at the woman as we walked, Andrea looked at him and nodded.

"Thanks." She smiled and motioned for us to cross the street.

"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean continued, Andrea glanced at him and didn't reply, we stopped in front of the motel.

"Here it is. Like I said,two blocks." She nodded to the building.

"Thanks." Sam looked at her gratefully and she nodded, then turned to Dean and patted his shoulder lightly.

"Must be hard, with your sense of direction. Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." She said sadly and then walked away, leaving Dean with a stunned look. "Enjoy your stay!" She called to us over her shoulder before leaving. Sam and I waited two seconds...

"Wow, you got shut down so hard, that was... hilarious." I smirked at him, he narrowed his eyes at me and Sam grinned.

"'Kids are the best'? You don't even like kids." Sam frowned at his older brother, Dean shook his head.

"I love kids!" He protested, Sam and I crossed our arms at him.

"Name three children that you even know." I raised an eyebrow at him, Dean frowned as he tried to answer, I scoffed and walked into the motel, Sam close behind.

"I'm thinking!" He called over to us in protest, but we ignored him.

We were sat in the motel room waiting as Sam worked on his laptop, Dean sorted through his clothing and I was playing with a ball of flame in my palm. "Stephanie, please be careful with that. The last thing we need is a fire and people asking questions." Sam warned me for the billionth time, I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"Relax, Sammy. You worry too much." I tutted and concentrated, the flame grew hotter and bigger in my palm, and I used my other hand to cup it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sam watching in fascination at the flame but then he rolled his eyes and scoffed, turning his attention back to his computer screen.

"So there's been three drowning victims this year." Sam changed the subject, Dean nodded from his bed and looked over at him.

"Any before that?" He asked, Sam nodded as his gaze was transfixed on the bright screen.

"Uh, yeah." He answered, I snuffed the flame out and walked over to him and stood behind him, Sam had found a webpage up of a newspaper from a month ago:

**THE LAKE MANITOC TRIBUNE: DROWNING TAINTS ICE FISHING FESTIVAL**

Sam clicked on a subheading and the page changed:

**TRIBUNE: 12 YEAR OLD GIRL DROWNS IN LAKE – SECOND DROWNING IN 6 MONTHS AT LAKE MANITOC **

"Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years, those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up it's pace." Sam explained, craning his neck to look at me. I nodded at him as Dean threw another item of clothing onto his bed.

"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" He asked a little doubtfully.

"This whole lake monster theory, it – it just bugs me." Sam shrugged, Dean frowned and joined me behind Sam, reading over his shoulder.

"Why?" I asked him, frowning at the younger Winchester.

"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundred of eyewitness accounts. But here, almost nothing." Sam looked back at the newspaper article and sighed, "Whatever is out there, no one's living to talk about it." He muttered, scrolling to the bottom of the page to reveal the comments section of the article. Dean suddenly reached out and pointed at the screen.

"Wait, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" He asked, he was right: it _did _sound very familiar.

"Uh, Christopher Barr, the victim in May." Sam read aloud, then clicked on the name, opening a new page:

**LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT**

The headline read, and below showed a picture of a police officer with a small boy, I peered closer and recognised Lucas. "Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming, Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned two hours before the kid got rescued." I read aloud, Sam clicked the picture for a better look and rubbed his left eye.

"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all." Sam nodded and sighed.

"No wonder that poor kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." I murmured, staring at the smiling boy in the picture, holding his Dad's hand.

At three o'clock we arrived at the park, kids were laughing and playing around. We spotted Andrea sat on a bench watching her son, he's playing at another bench colouring and playing with toy soldiers. "Can we join you?" Sam asked as we neared Andrea, she looked up and spotted the three of us.

"I'm here with my son." She replied, nodding her head at Lucas.

"Mind if I say hi?" Dean asked, looking over at him, without an answer he walked over to where Lucas was sat.

"Tell your friend this whole _Jerry Maguire_ thing isn't gonna work on me." She looked at the two of us once Dean was out of earshot.

"I don't think that's what this is about." I smiled kindly at her.

"Hmmph." She crossed her arms and frowned at me. I looked at Sam and gave him a look and stepped forward to hit her, but Sam grabbed my arm and held me back.

"So, did you know Sophie Carlton personally?" Sam broke the silence, Andrea looked up at him and shrugged.

"I used to teach her piano but then she turned into a real health nut, always working out and stuff at the gym. It's really sad how she died." Andrea replied, I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it's so weird, I heard she was a really strong swimmer too." I responded. We waited for Dean to come back and he returned two minutes later.

"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his Dad's accident." Andrea told the older brother as he approached, he nodded.

"Yeah, we heard, sorry." Dean answered, his tone solemn.

"What are the doctor's saying?" Sam asked the young woman, she sniffed and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." She muttered.

"That can't be easy, for either of you." He bserved, looking at Lucas and then at Andrea.

"We moved in with my Dad, he helps out a lot. It's just... when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..." She trailed off and there was a pause.

"Kids are strong," Dean said, "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."

"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with to tell you the truth." Andrea laughed as tears fell from her eyes, she paused and wiped them away, "Now he just sits there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-." She broke off when Lucas approached, he was carrying a drawing and Andrea smiled at him. "Hey sweetie." She greeted. Lucas looked up at Dean and handed him the drawing, Dean smiled when he looked at it.

"Hey, thanks, Lucas." Dean thanked him, I looked over and recognised it as a picture of the Carlton household, Lucas took one last look at the three of us and then walked back over to the bench.

Sam was out buying food for the three of us, Dean and I were sat on separate beds in silence. I had lost my phone in the mine when we were fighting the wendigo – not that it mattered, I couldn't reach Skulduggery or anyone else even if I wanted to. I shrugged off my coat and stretched my arms, then threw it down on the bed. "So, Stephanie, where are your parents in all this? Do they know what you do for a living?" Dean broke the silence, I finished stretching and looked over to him.

"No, my parents just think I'm a normal, ordinary teenaged girl." I answered, looking back at him.

"What about you? I know your Dad trained you to, uh, hunt the supernatural. But where's your Mum?" I asked, Dean shrugged simply.

"When I was four years old, Sammy was just a baby... She heard a noise from Sammy's room and went in there, a demon was in there and it killed her. The same thing killed Sam's girlfriend that night at the college." Dean explained, I nodded once.

"That must've been hard, growing up without her." I told him sympathetically.

"You, uh, you could say that, yeah." He smiled sadly.

"And you've been looking for the demon ever since, right?" I asked.

"Our Dad has, yeah." He answered, there was silence and I listened to the traffic coming in through the open window sounding from the street below. "So, who trained you to, uh, do all this stuff?" Dean broke the silence, I looked at him for a moment and sighed.

"It's a, uh, it's a long story, Dean." I smiled but he shrugged.

"We have time. Just tell me." He replied.

"Ummm, ok, well... Magic can be in anyone, and I found out I had it whilst I was working on my first case with my partner, and he's been teaching me ever since. In both magic and combat." I explained, Dean was frowning in confusion at me.

"Ok... So, why did you first introduce yourself as Valkyrie when we met you?" He asked, I smiled a small smile.

"Well, magic people, they, uh, there's this idea that each person has three names: their given name, taken name and true name." I explained.

"So?" He shrugged.

"Well my given name is Stephanie Edgely, but people can have influence over me if they learnt that name, so I took a name to protect myself: Valkyrie Cain." I explained, he nodded slowly.

"So, what about your true name? What's that?"

"Your true name is where your magic stems from, if a sorcerer knew their true name, they could harness unimaginable power. But if someone knew your true name then they could control you without question." I explained, "Most people go through life without ever finding out what their true name is."

"And what about you, do you know what your true name is?" He leaned closer and I nodded once.

"I do, and I got my name sealed so I couldn't be controlled when I was sixteen." I replied, Dean blinked in surprise and I shrugged.

"How'd you get it sealed?"

"I went through a very, very dangerous procedure." I answered and got up from the bed and went over to the window and looked out of it.

"What kind of procedure?" Dean asked from the bed, I took a deep breath and looked back at him.

"I had to die, then I underwent a surgery in which a monster carved out my heart and burnt symbols onto it and then put it back." I whispered, Dean went pale and leant against the wall and stared at my discarded coat on the bed in silence. Sam came through the doors holding a single bag full of food.

"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." He said as he walked in, Dean cleared his throat and looked at him.

"What do, uh, what do you mean?" Dean asks, Sam sat down on Dean's bed and looked at him.

"I just drove past the Carlton house, there was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead." Sam told us and I blinked in shock and walked nearer to them.

"How?" I asked.

"Apparently he drowned in the sink." He said.

"He drowned?" Dean echoed.

"Yep. In the sink." Sam answered, Dean and I exchanged a confused look.

"What the hell? So you're right, this isn't a creature: we're dealing with something else." Dean sighed and leaned back on the bed.

"Yeah, but what?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water... water that comes from the same source." Dean shrugged as he rubbed his eyes.

"The lake." I realised.

"Yep." Sam nodded, "Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining, you heard Jake – it'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants: it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone almost anywhere." I pointed out, Dean stood up and sighed.

"This is gonna happen again soon." He said as he moved to the desk and sat at a chair.

"And we do know one thing for sure, we know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton." Sam stated and we nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it killed Sophie and Will." I responded.

"And I was asking around earlier. Lucas's dad, Chris – Bill Carlton's godson." Sam told us and I nodded, connecting up the dots: this all led back to -

"Let's go pay Bill Carlton a visit." Dean said.

We found Bill sitting at the bench on the dock looking out at the lake, "Mr Carlton?" Sam called to him as we approached, Bill turned and squinted up at us as we neared. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." He asked, and Dean nodded.

"We're from the Department-." Dean started to say, but was cut off by the man.

"I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today." Bill muttered, nevertheless Sam walked over and stood in front of the ageing man.

"Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever seen anything out there? Mr Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death – we think there might be a connection to you or your family." Sam explained and crouched down in front of Bill.

"My children are gone. It's – it's worse than dying. Go away. Please." Bill cried, I walked over and tugged at Sam's arm so we could leave the man in peace.

We headed back to Dean's car without another glance back at the man. "What do you think, guys?" I asked the brothers.

"I think the poor guy's been through hell. But I also think that he's not telling us something." Dean answered, we reached the car and Sam leant on it and sighed.

"So what now?" I asked, stretching in the sunlight. Dean didn't reply and looked at the Carlton house intently.

"What is it, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Huh?" He snapped back to us and then started fumbling in his pockets searching for something. "Maybe Bill's not the only one who know something." Dean said as he pulled out a folded piece of paper, he unfolded it and I peeked over his shoulder and saw it was the crayon drawing of the Carlton House that Lucas had drawn for Dean.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea." Andrea hedged, we were standing outside her house asking for Lucas, but Andrea was refusing.

"I just need to talk to him." Dean tried, but she shook her head, I sighed and stepped forward and her gaze switched to me.

"Look, we just want to talk to him – just for a few minutes, it won't take long I promise." I told her, but she shook her head again.

"He won't say anything. What good is it gonna do?" She argued, I sighed and stepped away before I hit her.

"Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there." Sam tried, but she looked at us as if we were crazy: to her we probably were.

"My husband, the others – they just drowned. That's all." She disagreed, I opened my mouth to protest, but Dean tugged at my elbow and shook his head.

"If that's what you really want, we'll go. But if you think there's even a _possibility _that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son." He pleaded, she stared at him for the longest time before nodding once.

Andrea led us upstairs to Lucas's bedroom and found him playing with the toy soldiers and colouring with his crayons. Dean entered the room whilst Andrea, Sam and I lingered in the doorway. "Hey Lucas, you remember me?" He said as he crouched down next to the boy, Lucas didn't answer or look up, he kept drawing his drawing. "You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again." Dean continued, when Lucas didn't reply he pulled out his old drawing and unfolded it, then placed it in front of the boy. "How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?" Dean questioned, but Lucas kept colouring, Dean sighed and switched his positions and sat cross-legged in front of him. "You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my Mum, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my Mum—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too." Dean told him, Lucas drops the crayon he was using and looked up at Dean. He turned back to his desk and gave Dean the drawing he'd just finished. Dean looked at it and then smiled down at Lucas. "Thanks Lucas." He grinned and then stood up and nodded to us, I lead the way down the stairs and walked down the path to where Dean had parked his car, not bothering to thank Andrea for letting us in.

Sam was looking at the picture Lucas had drawn for Dean: it was a picture of a white church with a yellow house beside it, in front of the yellow house was a wooden house with a boy standing there in a blue baseball cap with a red bicycle. "Andrea said that the kid never drew like that until his Dad died." Dean told us, glancing at Sam from the driver's seat.

"There are cases – going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies." Sam nodded.

"So what are you saying? Whatever's out there Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" I asked.

"Steph's right: I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please." Dean spoke up.

"Alright, we got another house to find." Sam said, pointing to the yellow house in the drawing, Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"The only problem is there's a thousand yellow two – stories in this county alone." Dean sighed, but I leaned forward and pointed at the picture.

"See this church? There's probably less than a thousand of those around here." I told them, Dean scoffed and shook his head.

"Oh, detective girl thinks she's so smart." Dean taunted and I glared at him.

"Shut up." I told him.

"Anyway, what you said earlier... about Mum... you never told me that before." Sam said, Dean kept his eyes fixed on the road and turned up the music player.

"It's no big deal." Dean shrugged, there was a silence and Sam stared at his brother with big, soulful eyes, "Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" He moaned and I cracked a smile.

"We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by any chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle." Dean asked an old lady who lived in the yellow house next to the church just like in Lucas's picture.

"No sir, not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now." The old lady shook her head. She motioned for us to come in and we followed her as she led us into the living room. She picked up a photograph of a smiling young boy holding a shiny red bicycle. "The police never – _I _never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared." The old lady sighed, shaking her head down at the photograph. Sam nudged Dean and I and pointed to several toy soldiers set up neatly in a glass cabinet. "Losing him – you know, it's... it's worse than dying." She said sadly, I glanced at Dean and he made a face.

"Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?" Dean asked.

"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up." She answered, her voice breaking on the word 'up'. I saw a picture before the mirror and picked it up and turned it over, on the back it read:

_Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton – 1970_

"Well, thank you for your time, ma'am." I turned back to Sam and Dean and the old lady, she was nodding, still staring sadly at the photograph in her shaking hands.

"Okay," Sam said as we drove away from the old woman's house and back into town, "This little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow."

"He's definitely connected, there was a picture of him and Peter when they were kids on the mantle." I told them and the two brothers nodded.

"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" Dean agreed.

"And Bill, the people he loves – they're all getting punished." Sam continued and I leant forward in the backseat.

"So what if Bill did something to Peter?" I asked and Sam nodded, a disturbing smile on his face.

"What if Bill killed him?" Sam joined in with my question asking.

"Peter's spirit would be furious, it'd want revenge. It's possible." Dean shrugged and the car moved along faster.

"Mr Carlton?" Sam called as we approached the house, behind the house we heard an engine roar and we took off sprinting in the direction of it, we ran down and came to the shoreline of the lake to see Bill out on the lake in a boat.

"Check it out." Dean said and we ran to the end of the dock overlooking the lake.

"Mr Carlton!" I called, he turned round but his boat didn't slow down, he had a steely expression on his old, lined face.

"Mr Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!" Dean cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled to the man, I watched in fear as the boat kept going.

"Mr Carlton!" Sam tried again, but we were ignored, the water started churning around the boat, I ran a hand through my dark hair as the water lapped roughly on the underside of the boat. I cried out as the water rose up and flipped the boat over, when the water cleared the boat and Bill vanished beneath the dark, murky surface. The water returned to it's natural yet so unnatural calm state, not a ripple on the surface.

We strode through the doors of the police station, Andrea was sat on a chair on the side and leapt up and walked over, "Sam, Stephanie, Dean." She said and walked up with a confused look on her face. "I didn't expect to see you here." She said.

"So now you're on a first name basis." Te Sheriff walked over to us with an irritated look on his face, then he turned to his daughter, "What are you doing here?" He asked, his expression softer.

"I bought you dinner." She answered and pointed to the plastic bag and container that had been stacked neatly on a chair.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have time." He pulled a face, his tone apologetic.

"I heard about Bill Carlton, is it true? I something going on with the lake?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." He told his worried daughter, as if he had received an unknown signal, Lucas looked up and made a scared whining noise and grabbed Dean's arm, his eyes were wide and scared.

"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean asked the boy with a concerned look on his face, "Lucas?" His tone became more serious as the boy's wide unblinking eyes stared up at Dean.

"Lucas." Andrea looked at her son with a worried expression, Dean crouched down and look into the boy's face.

"Lucas, it's ok, it's ok. Hey, Lucas, it's ok, it's ok." Dean told the boy in soothing tones, but he didn't look any calmer. Andrea pulled Lucas away from Dean and led him outside, Lucas kept his wide staring eyes on Dean the whole time. When the doors to the station closed the three of us turned our attention back to Jake, he threw his jacket down and beckoned us into his office.

"Okay, just so I'm clear," The Sheriff sighed heavily as he sat in his chair, "You see... something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill – who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the lake. And you never see him again?" Jake asked, Sam and I shared a glance and then nodded at Dean.

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Dean confirmed.

"Ad I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not Wildlife Service?" Jake demands, I gave the brother's a surprised look and Jake grins and leans forward in his seat, "That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you three."

"See, now we can explain that." I tried.

"Enough," Jake held up his hand, "Please, the only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbours saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here – I can arrest the three of you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror and you don't ever darken my doorstep again." He yelled, making us shift in our seats.

"Door number two sounds good." Dean grinned and Jake nodded, his eyes full of rage.

"That's the one I'd pick." He nodded.

We were sat in Dean's car waiting at a traffic light, out the window there was a sign that read:

**1-43 NORTH TO MILWAUKEE → **

The traffic light turned green but Dean didn't move. "Green." Sam said, Dean turned to look at him.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"He's talking about the traffic light, it's green." I pointed to the light. Dean nodded and the car moved forward and went left.

"Uh, the interstate's the other way." Sam murmured and Dean grinned.

"I know."

"But Dean, this job. I think it's over." Sam told him but Dean shook his head.

"I'm not so sure." He argued.

"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got it's revenge: case closed. Shouldn't the spirit be at, like, rest, or something?" I asked and Dean nodded.

"Alright, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?" He asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"But why would you think that?" Sam asked.

"Because Lucas was really scared." Dean answered with a shrug and I scoffed from the back seat.

"That's what this is about?" I asked, surprised at Dean's behaviour.

"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's ok." Dean replied with a shrug and Sam looked at Dean in shock.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?" Sam asked, Dean glanced at Sam and half smiled.

"Shut up." We drove in silence after that, and Dean sighed happily as he pulled up in front of Andrea's home.

"Are we sure about this? It's pretty late." I said, looking up at the twinkling night sky. Dean didn't reply and walked quickly up to the house and rang the doorbell, Sam looked at me and I shrugged and sighed as we followed him up to the porch. Lucas flings open the door and he's breathing loudly with a petrified look on his face.

"Lucas? Lucas!" Dean asked, suddenly worried, the boy runs off and we follow close behind and upstairs. The landing carpet is saturated with water and it poured out from under the bathroom door, Lucas ran on the soaking carpet and started pounding on the door, I walked over and pushed Lucas gently to Dean and splayed my hands, feeling the air shift and connect beneath my palm, a sudden force of air slams into the door, blowing it from its hinges. I ran into the bathroom and reached the tub, dark water swirled around in it: lake water.

"Help me!" I cried out as Sam appeared in the door way, I reached my hand into the bath and felt a wrist. Sam stood beside me and grabbed what I assumed was Andrea's other arm, we pulled her up and she gasped as she broke free from the surface, but then something shifted in the air and I narrowed my eyes. I cried out in fright as Andrea is yanked back down and out of my grip, I reached in the tub again and used both hands to grab her arm, Together Sam and I slowly lifted Andrea from the bath and she fell on us, Sam jumped back in surprise and I groaned as Andrea's full weight landed on me coughing up water.

Sam and I were sat with Andrea in the living room, the woman was holding a cup of tea I had made her in her shaking hands and was wearing some comfortable clothes. "Can you tell us?" Sam asked her gently and she shook her head and looked at us with wide eyes.

"No." She told him. "It doesn't make any sense," Andrea sobbed, tears falling from her red-rimmed eyes, "I'm going crazy." She managed, I took the tea away from her to save it falling from her hands.

"No you're not, tell us what what happened, everything." I told her gently.

"I heard... I thought I heard... there was this voice." She told us, putting her face in her hands and sobbing harder, I rubbed her back soothingly and handed her a tissue, she took it and nodded at me gratefully. "T-thank you, Stephanie." She stuttered and I smiled warmly at her.

"It's no problem, Andrea. Now, this voice. What did it say?" I asked her gently.

"It said... it said 'come play with me'." She answered as more tears streamed down her bloodshot eyes, she sniffed and I fought the urge to shudder. "What's happening?" She cried out and envelopes me in a hug, I shoot Sam an uncomfortable look and he shrugs.

"She's just upset, she's not gonna hurt you." He mouthed to me, I pulled a face and awkwardly put my arms around the weeping woman.

"Do you recognise the kids in these pictures?" Dean asked as he came over, holding a scrapbook. Andrea released her death grip on me and sniffed as she looked at the book Dean had set down on the coffee table. It was open to a picture of a group of boys in scout uniforms, I glanced at what the caption read below:

**EXPLORER TROOP 37**

"Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my Dad right there, he must have been about twelve in these pictures." Andrea explained, running her a finger over a boy, presumably her Dad. I recognised the boy next to her though: Peter Sweeney. I looked up at Dean and then back at the picture.

"That's Peter!" I exclaimed pointing to the boy next to Jake.

"Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the Sheriff." Dean stated, looking at Sam and I.

"Bill _and _the Sheriff. They were both involved with Peter." Sam nodded in understanding.

"What about Chris? My Dad – what are you talking about?" Andrea looked at the three of us with a confused expression, but Dean's attention was on something else.

"Lucas?" He asked, I looked over and saw that the boy's gaze was transfixed on something outside the window, in silence he get up and walked out the door. "Lucas, what is it?" Dean asked as he opened the door and followed the boy down the garden path and into the woods, everyone close behind.

"Lucas, honey?" Andrea called out, hysteria seeping into her tone. Lucas stopped abruptly and Andrea sighed in relief, but the boy didn't stop because of her: he was staring at something on the ground, then he looked up at Dean.

"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, ok?" Dean told Andrea, she nodded with shocked eyes and took Lucas's hand and led him back in the direction of the house. We walked to the shed at the end of Andrea's garden and I used the air to blast open the doors of the old shack, I found three shovels and threw two to the brother's and we walked back into the woods. Sam started to dig but his shovel clanked against something and he looked up at Dean and I and we threw the shovels down and started to dig with out hands, three minutes later we had pulled away enough dirt to reveal an old, red bicycle.

"Peter's bike." Sam breathed out and I nodded, the all too familiar sound of a gun clicking sounded behind us, followed by an all too familiar voice.

"Who are you?" Jake asked, he was stood there with a gun pointed at Sam.

"Put the gun down, Jake." I told the Sheriff in a firm voice, but Jake shook his head.

"How did you know that was there?" He demanded, pointing the gun harder at the youngest Winchester.

"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." I told him in an even voice, his gun moved off Sam and onto my, but I kept calm. Worse situations had occurred.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He denied in an angry voice.

"Hey, hey, listen: you and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about." Dean said, trying to move some of Jake's anger from me to him. Fortunately for us, Andrea ran up with a horrified look on her face.

"Dad!" She exclaimed, terrified.

"And now you got one seriously pissed off spirit." Dean continued.

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them, and it's gonna drag their bodies down to God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's Mum felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you and it's not gonna stop until it does." Sam told the Sheriff, he scoffed and glanced at Sam.

"Yeah, and how do you know that?" The man asked, beside Sam I shrugged and my gaze remained calm and collected.

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton." I answered.

"Listen to yourselves, all three of you. You're insane." Jake responded, but Dean had had enough.

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them and then burn them to dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake." Dean pleaded, despite the gun being pointed at his chest.

"Dad, is any of this true?" Andrea demanded, Jake looked at his hysterical daughter out of the corner of his eyes and he shook his head.

"No. Don't listen to them, they're liars and they're dangerous." He told his daughter.

"Something tried to drown me," She told him, "Chris died on that lake, Dad look at me." She said and Jake turned his head and stared at Andrea, "Tell me you – you didn't kill anyone." She begged, her eyes shining bright with tears in the early light of dawn. Jake looked away and her face went slack, "Oh my God." She whispered.

"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one, we always bullied him. But this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water, we didn't mean to, but we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank." Jake explained in a hollow voice, Dean and I caught eachother's eye and then I turned back to Jake. "Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared, it was a mistake. But Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational." He tried to explain, but Andrea was looking at him as if he were a stranger.

"Alright, listen to me: all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can. Right now." Dean ordered, his tone firm and commanding. Andrea's gaze was fixed on a point pass my shoulder and I was starting to feel a little self conscious, she suddenly gasped and I fought down the urge to whip round.

"Lucas!" Jake called, looking where Andrea was, I turned and saw what they were looking at and gasped along with them, Lucas was leaning over the side of the dock, reaching for something in the water.

"Lucas!" Dean roared, and charged towards him, everyone followed close behind.

"Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!" Andrea screamed, suddenly a pale, white hand reached up from the surface and yanked Lucas down, I force my legs to run all the more faster and reach the end of the dock and dive in, Dean and Sam close behind. The water was dark and murky, and in my ears I could hear the sound of a boy laughing, as if he were playing a game. I opened my eyes and saw Peter, he was so pale he actually glowed brightly in contrast of the gloomy depths of the lake. He glared at me in the water and started moving towards me, I looked to see if Lucas was with him but he was nowhere in sight, Peter was getting closer now – his eyes shadowed and his face chalky, I kicked up with my legs and I broke up to the surface, gasping for air.

"Stephanie? Did you find anything?" I heard Dean ask, I shook his head and looked up at Andrea sadly.

"I'm sorry." I said and Andrea lets out a loud, broken cry.

"Lucas where are you?" She screamed and I looked at the brothers.

"Down again, guys." I told them and dived back down, Peter was waiting for me and grabbed onto my wrist and I cried out and tried to pull away, but the boy had a vice like grip on my wrist. He narrowed his eyes and looked at me, "You're not here to play!" He shouted, the water distorting his voice, I shook my head and he screamed, I closed my eyes in pain as the spirits screams rattled around my head, my heartbeat was in my ears and my lungs were on fire, telling me to get more air. I kicked out with my leg and it came into contact with Peter's stomach, but he barely noticed, he was looking at something else – something that was happening above the surface. Peter gave me one last look and smiled evilly at me, ad I knew why – my heartbeat was slowing down in my ears, and my head felt so heavy: no wonder I hadn't drifted back up to the surface yet. Peter had disappeared and I was glad to be rid of him, glad that the last thing I saw wasn't going to be that creepy bastard's face. My eyes were drifting shut now, it was going to be over soon, I felt the air shift under my palms but I was too tired to open my eyes and investigate what it was, I closed my eyes and ignored the numb feeling of something wrapping around me waist, I was feeling light headed and wondering why I hadn't fallen asleep yet.

"Stephanie! Stephanie, can you hear me?" A voice was interrupting my attempt at sleeping, something was hitting my face now, "Steph? Steph! Come on, I know you can hear me in there!" The voice sounded again, I sighed inwardly as I felt the welcoming feeling of sleep vanish and I opened my eyes and breathed in a great lungful of air, but something was already in my lungs. I coughed and pushed the water from my lungs, gasping gratefully as air filled my lungs and dispelled the heavy weight in my head. I looked around and saw Sam looking down at me, a look of relief on his face, "Oh thank God." He sighed and pulled me into a hug, I coughed again at the pain of my chest being crushed in Sam's bear hug.

"Sam? Can't breathe." I rasped in his ear and he suddenly let go and I rested back down on the floor again and sighed. "Did we do it?" I asked him.

"Yeah, yeah we did it."

We checked out the motel and were heading to Dean's car, Dean opened the car door and Sam tossed his duffel bag in. "Look, we're not gonna save everybody." Sam looked at his brother sadly and Dean nodded once.

"I know." He replied curtly.

"Guys!" A voice called from behind us, we turned to see Andrea walking over to us with Lucas in tow.

"Hey." Dean smiled in greeting.

"We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road." Andrea explained and looked down at Lucas, he was carrying a tray piled with sandwiches. "Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself." She smiled down at her son and he grinned up at his Mum.

"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked and I beamed down at him when I heard his voice.

"Of course." Andrea allowed and kissed Lucas's forehead.

"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car." Dean offered and they moved over to the car.

"How are you holding up?" I asked Andrea, she laughed, much to my surprise.

"How are you? Last time I saw you, Sam was carrying you to the car." She smiled and touched my arm, I shrugged and nodded.

"I'm sure I'll live. But seriously, how have you been keeping?" I asked again.

"It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" Andrea's smile drops and she sighed heavily.

"Andrea, we're both really sorry." Sam cut in, but she shook her head.

"You three saved my son, one of you damn near died doing it. I can't ask for more than that, Dad loved me. He loved Lucas, no matter what he did, I just have to hold onto that." Andrea dry sobbed a little and I pulled her in for a hug, over her shoulder Sam was looking at me in surprise and I shrugged.

"Goodbye, Andrea." I told her and then moved over to the car and stepped into earshot of what Dean was saying to Lucas.

"You take care of your Mum, ok?" I heard Dean ask the boy.

"All right." Lucas said and then I looked over to see Dean kissing Andrea and I couldn't help but giggle a little, Lucas giggled with me and I walked over and hugged him.

"I know about you, Valkyrie." Lucas's voice sounded in my ear and I pulled away in shock.

"What did you just call me?" I asked the boy.

"Valkyrie. I've dreamed about you, you're not with the skeleton man anymore, this isn't your world is it?" Lucas asked me, I stared at the boy in shock before nodding once with tears in my eyes.

"No it's not, but I was supposed to go back home ages ago, but it hasn't happened. I think something's wrong and I can't get back." I admitted to the boy, Lucas nodded.

"I haven't dreamed of you leaving Dean and Sam, Valkyrie." The boy replied, I nodded slowly.

"Stephanie, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road." I heard dean's voice from behind me, I gave Lucas one last hug.

"Take care, Lucas." I told him before I got into the car and shut the door, Dean grinned when everyone was ready and started the engine and we drove off. We all smile as we see Andrea and Lucas waving goodbye to us, and we all wave in return, then Dean switches up the radio and we all sing along to _Movin' on _by _Bad Company_.

**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the reviews! I didn't expect to get so many to be honest! I'm planning on posting Chapter 3 when I have at least 10 reviews! So comment if you want to see the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thank you all again for your reviews – They really do help, I've noticed review asking whether I will bring Valkyrie's darker true self: Darquesse into the story. Well guess what? You'll have to wait and see, I have so many plans for Valkyrie with the Winchesters. **

Winchester and Cain Chapter 04 – Phantom Traveller

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean was asleep on the bed next to me across the room, I hadn't really gotten much sleep last night, my final conversation with Lucas had scared me. The idea of never returning to my home just didn't sound right, I'd never see my parents, my baby sister and cousins, my crazy aunt and uncle or Skulduggery. I sat up quickly when tears started forming in my eyes, I got out of bed and crossed the motel room for a tissue. I breathed deeply at my reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall and scoffed to myself at the dramatics, throwing the tissue in the bin right as the door opened, instinctively I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, on the other side of the room I saw Dean's hand slide under his pillow and pull out a knife. "Morning, sunshines." I heard Sam joke, turning on the lights to reveal him holding three coffee cups and a brown bag. I sighed in relief and let the flames in my hands die out, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"What time is it?" Dean groaned from his bed, his knife on the bedside table and his head under the sheets.

"Uh, it's about five forty-five." Sam answered, twisting his wrist so he could read his watch.

"In the morning?" Dean mumbled.

"Must be." I answered, and Dean rolled his eyes as he sat up and stretched.

"Where does the day go?" He smiled sleepily and then looked at his younger brother. "Did you get any sleep last night?" He asked.

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple of hours." Sam shrugged and I frowned.

"Liar, because I was up at three, and you were watching a George Foreman info-thingy." I commented, raising an eyebrow at Sam.

"Hey, firstly it's called an _infomercial, _ok? And secondly, what can I say? It's riveting TV." Sam retorted, narrowing his eyes at me. "And I didn't see you sleeping much, either, Steph." He added and I shrugged.

"So I couldn't sleep last night, so what? I almost died yesterday – I think I'm entitled to a sleepless night." I lied smoothly, yawning as Sam handed me one of the coffee cups.

"Ok, ok. So, Sam, Stephanie has an excuse, what's yours? In fact, when was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asked as I sat at the table.

"I don't know. A little while, I guess – it's not a big deal." Sam shrugged and opened the curtains, I frowned at him and glanced at Dean.

"Yeah it is." I argued, Dean nodded in agreement. Sam turned and saw Dean and I frowning at him in concern and he sighed and scoffed.

"Look," He chuckled, "I appreciate your concern-."

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's both your jobs to keep my ass alive, so I need you both sharp. Got it?" Dean sighed as he stood up from his bed, I nod whilst Sam shrugs half-heartedly and I look at him in shock.

"Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?" I asked him, Sam didn't look at me, he crossed the room over to me and set the brown paper bag on the table next to me and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Yeah," He admitted, exhausted, "But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job, it gets to you." He told me, I stayed quiet whilst Dean shook his head.

"You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that." He advised, I nodded in agreement and Sam scoffed.

"So, what? All this – it never keeps you up at night?" He asked the two of us, I opened my mouth to object but nothing sprung to mind, I cast my eyes to the floor and didn't answer. Meanwhile, Dean held his head high and shook it. "Never? You're never afraid?" He looked at his brother in interest, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"No, not really." Dean shrugged, Sam scoffed and walked over to Dean's bedside table and held up the large, sharp hunting knife that the older brother had pulled out when Sam had first arrived. Dean frowned and took the knife from Sam, "That's not fear. That's precaution." He smirked, Sam yawned and shook his head in defeat.

"Alright, whatever. I'm too tired to argue." Sam sighed and took a swig from his coffee cup, I watched him in concern as Dean's phone started to ring.

"Hello?" He answered as he flipped it open. Another voice, a male's, sounded on the other end as Sam and I listened on in silence. "Oh right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the, ugh, the poltergeist thing. It's not back is it?" Dean asked, I sighed and zoned out as I made my way over to the bed I had slept in last night and started to fold the sheets. My mind was on home again as a flock of birds flew past the window, I closed my eyes and imagined the sound of my baby sister laughing at my Dad's antics as he tried to find a pair off socks that matched whilst Mum, Alice and I were sat at the breakfast table.

"Steph? Steph!" A voice interrupted my day dream and I opened my eyes in shock.

"Huh?" I asked, looking at Sam and Dean in confusion.

"We got a case, we're moving out. Grab your jacket." Sam told me and I nodded, slightly dazed and walked over to where I had dumped my jacket tiredly on the floor last night.

"Thanks for making the trip so quick, I ought to be doing you guys a favour, not the other way around. Dean and John really helped me out." The man, Jerry Panowski, led us through an airport hangar.

"Yeah, he told me. It was a poltergeist?" Sam asked, a man passed and smiled at the four of us.

"_Poltergeist?_ Man, I loved that movie." The man said as he passed by us, Jerry turned and glared at him.

"Hey! Nobody's talking to you, keep walking." He ordered, then he turned back to us, his eyes softer and friendlier, "Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart." Jerry continued, "Tell you something, if it wasn't for you and your Dad – I probably wouldn't be alive." He told Dean, the older Winchester smiled and shrugged, Jerry smiled back and then looked at Sam, "Your Dad said you were off at college. Is that right?" He asked the younger Winchester, Sam nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I was. I'm – taking some time off." He admitted. Jerry nodded and then looked at me, his eyes holding no recognition at me at all – which didn't surprise me in the slightest.

"And you, well, I haven't ever met or heard about you, how do you know the Winchester's?" He asked me.

"Uhhmm..." I trailed off, looking at the two brother's for help.

"Her name is Stephanie, she's just a close friend who we hunt with." Dean told them man, Jerry nodded and smiled.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Stephanie." He greeted and I nodded, then he turned back to Sam.

"He was really proud of you, your Dad. He talked about you all the time." Jerry told him, Sam looked up in surprise.

"He did?" He asked.

"Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?" Jerry changed the subject at an alarming rate and I blinked.

"He's, umm, wrapped up in a job right now." Dean answered.

"Well, we're missing the old man – but we get Stephanie and Sam. Even trade, huh?" Jerry asked cheerily, Dean and Sam laughed, much to my surprise and I frowned in confusion.

"No, not by a long shot." Sam answered, Jerry shrugged and made a face.

"I got something I want you guys to hear." The man moved on, we came to an office with Jerry's name on it and he motioned for us to go inside, we grouped next to Jerry's desk and waited patiently for him to show us the thing. "I listened to this. And, well, it sounded like it was up your alley." Jerry smiled as he opened a box and pulled out an unmarked CD, he puts it in a drive and taps the desk impatiently as he waits for it to load. "Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours." He explained as a clip appeared up on the computer screen, he clicked it and the four of us leaned in and listened.

"Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! This is United Britannia 2485 – immediate instruction help! United Britannia 2485, I copy your message... May be experiencing some mechanical failure..." A voice sounded above a large amount of static, a whooshing sound appeared after the message ended and I glanced up at the two brothers and frowned in confusion.

"Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south. Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why, over a hundred people were on board and only seven got out alive. Pilot was one, his name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine... Chuck is, uh... well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault." Jerry explained, his smile no longer cheery.

"You don't think it was?" Sam asked and Jerry shook his head.

"No, I don't." Jerry answered.

"Right, well, we're gonna need the, uh, passenger manifests, right?" I looked at Sam and he nodded, beside him Dean was looking at me blankly, "A list of survivors." I answered and he nodded in understanding.

"Alright." Jerry smiled.

"And, uh, any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" Dean added.

"The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage... guys, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance." Jerry shook his head, Dean nodded and paused for a moment, the challenge shining in his dark eyes.

"No problem." He grinned.

Sam and I were waiting by the car outside a printing shop for Dean, a good twenty minutes had passed and I was starting to get bored, Sam was starting to get annoyed at his older brother's tardiness but I didn't care, time like this gave me the opportunity to pour over Lucas's words and reminisce about my old life. "You've been in there forever." Sam's voice, yet again, ruined my daydreams. I turned to see Dean smugly holding up three IDs.

"You can't rush perfection." Dean frowned at his brother as he handed the IDs to us, I couldn't help but be impressed at Dean's detailing on fraud.

"Homeland Security?" I laughed, Dean grinned and shrugged whilst Sam frowned at us.

"That's pretty illegal, even for us." Sam said worriedly.

"Yeah, well it's something new, you know? People haven't seen it a thousand times." Dean replied and I nodded in agreement.

"That's true." I commented, still smiling as we got into the car.

"Alright, so what do you got?" Dean asked as Sam belted his seatbelt up.

"Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder." Sam started.

"Yeah?"

"Listen." Sam told him as he put a tape into the stereo, he pressed play and the car became silent as we listened to the playback. There was static and then the loud whooshing sound that was the same as the one from the recording Jerry had shown us, then the static cleared and one scratchy, cold voice sounded through the speakers:

"No survivors."

"No survivors?" I repeated, "What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors." I told them, frowning in confusion as the tape ended.

"Got me." Sam shrugged and took the tape back out of the stereo.

"So, what are you thinking?" I asked them.

"I don't know, uh, haunted flight maybe?" Dean replied.

"There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travellers." Sam explained and I nodded.

"Mm-hmm." I muttered.

"Or remember flight 401?" Sam continued.

"Uh, no." I frowned.

"It's a flight that crashed, the airline salvaged some parts from the crash and put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights." Dean explained.

"Right."

"Maybe we got a similar deal." Sam suggested, and Dean nodded.

"Alright, so: no survivors. Which one do you want to talk to first?" He asked, Sam bought out a folded piece of paper and straightened it out, revealing a list of names Sam had written out.

"Third on the list," He tapped at it, "Max Jaffey." He read aloud.

"Why him?" I asked.

"Well, for one, he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did." Sam answered.

"What makes you say that?" Dean asked.

"Well, I spoke to his mother." He shrugged and I frowned.

"Wait, when did you speak to his mother?" I asked – I had been with Sam the whole time Dean was in the printer shop, I didn't remember him taking any phone calls.

"Ummm earlier? When we were waiting for Dean outside... You were stood right next to me." Sam looked shot me a strange look and I stared blankly back at him.

"I was?" I asked, perplexed.

"Yeah..." He frowned and looked at me closely, "Are you... ok?"

"Yep – yes! I am fine, so, Max... Jaffey was it? Why him?" I spoke quickly, trying hard to shift the conversation topic away from me, Sam and Dean exchanged a glance but I ignored it.

"Uhh, well, for one: he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did." Sam stuttered, looking at me in shock.

"Right, excellent." I said, clapping my hands together, "Where is he?"

"I don't understand. I already spoke with Homeland Security." Max protested, he was walking with Sam, Dean and I through the gardens of the hospital.

"Right. Some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple of questions..." Dean trailed off as Max leant heavily on his cane to sit down in the chair.

"Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything... unusual?" I asked, following what Skulduggery had taught me all those years ago.

"Like what?" He asked.

"Err strange lights, weird noises, maybe. Voices?" Dean took over once more.

"No, nothing." Max shook his head.

"Mr Joffey-."

"Jaffey." He corrected me with an annoyed look but I wasn't fazed.

"Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right?" I asked, remembering briefly what Sam had told us on the drive over. Mr Jaffey nodded in response and I leaned forward in my chair, clasping my hands together. "Can I ask why?" I continued.

"I was a little stress. I survived a plane crash." He narrowed his eyes at me but again, I ignored it.

"Uh-huh, and that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?" I asked, Max's brow furrowed in deep thought as he thought over the question.

"I – I don't want to talk about this anymore." Max shook his head quickly, I glanced down at his hands resting on the head of the cane and saw they were shaking.

"See I think maybe you did see something up there. We need to know what." Sam's voice sounded above me, his hands rested on the back of the chair I was sat on. Max seemed to consider before he something in his eyes held him back.

"No. No, I was... delusional – seeing things." He denied.

"It's ok, then just tell us what you _thought _you saw, please." Sam continued gently.

"There was... this man, and, uh, he had these eyes. These, uh... black eyes, and I saw him – or I _thought _I saw him..." Max trailed off and looked down at his shoes, I saw his knees were shaking now as well as his hands.

"What?" I asked him quietly.

"He opened the emergency exit. But that's... that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up, there's something like two tons of pressure on that door." Max said, his voice edging on hysteria.

"This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage?" Sam asked the shaking man, he raised his eyes up at Sam and then looked at Dean and me in disbelief.

"What are you, nuts?" He asked him, his tone incredulous. I looked up at the younger Winchester and saw his head had tilted at an angle. "He was a passenger, he was sitting right in front of me." Max finally shrugged with a shake of his head.

We pulled up in front of a typically big American house in the next town over, I gulped at how expensive the front yard looked, ornate marble fountains were set out symmetrically on the neatly mown lawn. "So here we are. George Phelps, seat 20C." Sam sighed as he tapped the paper in his hands.

"Hmm. Guys, I don't care how strong you are," Dean tapped the steering wheel thoughtfully then opened his door, Sam and I followed close behind, "Even yoked up on PCP or something, no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight." He shook his head.

"Not if you're human," I shrugged and the boys looked at me in surprise, "What? You saw that wendigo – how fast it was, what if this George guy was something else. Like a monster hiding as a human." I suggested, Sam and Dean considered this and the youngest Winchester nodded.

"It's possible." He agreed, but Dean shook his head and pointed to the overly grand house.

"Does that look like a creature's lair to you?" He asked.

"Maybe it was trying to be inconspicuous." I shrugged and headed up to the door, leaving the two boys by the car.

"This is your late husband?" I asked Mrs Phelps, an ageing lady with teeth a little to white to be considered real. I was inspecting a photograph of her husband, George, who didn't look like anything special – just an ordinary man with a clearly more than modest amount of money.

"Yes, that was my George." She smiled and spoke in hushed tones.

"And you said he was a..." Dean paused on his position on the plush white leather sofa, "Dentist?"

"Mm-hm." The widow nodded, her eyes bright, "He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that..." She trailed off and heaved a loud sob, causing me to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"How long were you married?" Sam asked from beside me and I stifled a groan – why couldn't we skip over all the soppy stuff?

"Thirteen years." Mrs Phelps sniffed, taking the photograph I was holding from me and staring down at it.

"In all that time," I faked a sweet smile, "Did you notice anything... strange about him, anything out of the ordinary?" I asked, widening my eyes innocently – as if I had just plucked the question out of thin air.

"Well... uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean." Mrs Phelps replied with a small shrug of her narrow shoulders.

"I mean, it goes without saying: it doesn't make any sense." Sam said once Mrs Phelps had said her goodbyes to us.

"A middle aged dentist with an ulcer isn't exactly personified." Dean made a face.

"Dean's right: we need to get inside that NTSB or whatever it was warehouse, check out that wreckage." I nodded to the two brothers.

"Okay, but if we're gonna go down that route, we'd better look the part – I mean: we won't even get through the doors if you're dressed like _that_." Sam smirked as he gestured to my tight black tunic, black trousers, black jacket and boots.

"This is magic clothing, protects me." I raised an eyebrow at him and looked down at myself, "I thought black was formal, though?" I murmured, confused. When I got no response I looked up and saw Dean and Sam looking at eachother with an amused expression on their faces.

The boys walked out of a shop named _Mort's for style _wearing crisp black suits with white shirts, I met them outside wearing a ridiculous tight single shoulder black dress with my hair tied up in a bun, I had let a few strands loose to frame my face. I had practised walking in the heels I had to wear and I had just about managed it, but I dearly missed my boots and coat. "Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers." Dean complained as he adjusted his collar.

"No you don't," Sam reassured him, "You look more like a... seventh-grader at his first dance." He smirked and I laughed, Dean frowned and looked at me, but then his eyes travelled down my body and his frown disappeared and was replaced with a smirk.

"Wow, Steph. That dress really brings out the hooker in you." He smirked and I rolled my eyes and punched him, hard. "Ow!" He complained and rubbed his arm.

"Serves you right." I glared at him, but he wasn't paying attention – Dean was looking sadly down at himself again.

"I hate this thing." He muttered to himself in a sad voice.

"Hey, you want into that warehouse or not? So shut up, both of you." Sam silenced us and walked away, Dean caught my eye and I rolled my eyes in the direction of Sam, he made faces at his turned back and I chuckled, turning it into a cough when Sam turned back to us. At that point I stumbled in the heels and swore loudly, causing both the Winchesters to burst out laughing at me.

"Not one word, either of you." I growled at them.

We entered the warehouse and showed the badges Dean had fashioned for us earlier, the guard looked us up and down and nodded us through, we walked into the empty hangar and I shut the door behind us. As soon as we were alone Dean pulled a device from his jacket pocket and put earplugs in his ears.

"What is that?" I asked as the lights on the top of the object flashed red once, indicating it had turned on.

"It's an EMF meter, it reads electromagnetic frequencies." Dean replied, holding it out at arms length and moving it slowly round as he surveyed the dark room.

"Why does that one look like a busted-up walkman?" Sam asked as he stood beside me looking at his older brother in confusion. Dean sighed and took one of the earplugs out and held the EMF meter for the both of us to see.

"'Cause that's what I made it out of. It's homemade." He looked at us in near bewilderment, and then grinned as he put the earplug back in his ear. Sam shook his head and looked at his brother as he turned away from us.

"Yeah, I can see that." He muttered and I grinned, but Dean turned back round with his grin long gone, and a look of hurt reflecting on his face. We followed him in silence as he checked over every inch of the remains of the aircraft, the last thing we did was the emergency door handle. When Dean ran his EMF meter over it and it bleeped and lit up green.

"Check out the emergency door handle." Dean said and I nodded and crouched closer to the door, I ran my finger over a short length of it's surface and when I held it up a peculiar yellow dust had covered my fingertip.

"What is this stuff?" I asked them, Dean shrugged whilst Sam came forward holding a bag and a small disposable brush.

"Only one way to find out." He answered as he scraped some of the dust off into the bag. Suddenly the sound of running footsteps echoed around the room and we heard the unmistakeable sound of the safety of lots of guns being taken off, we looked at eachother and I pointed to the emergency exit and they nodded. We pushed it open and walked out casually.

"Well, that went we-." I was cut off by several alarms blaring overhead, Sam looked at Dean and I in agitation.

"Run?" Dean suggested and we nodded, I took one step before sighing and kicking the heels away and running off in barefoot, I found the two boys looking up at a fence with barbed wire circling the top.

"Hold still." I ordered them and splayed my hands, air rushed and the two brothers cleared the fence in a terrific leap, I concentrated on using the air once again to cushion their fall and they landed safely. I smiled and snapped my palms out again, feeling the currents of air moving to push me over the fence, I landed and came up in a roll, my hair coming undone but I didn't care – we were safe.

"That was... awesome." Dean grinned once we were inside the car and speeding away from the warehouse, he looked at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes shining. "How did you do that?" He asked, I smiled back at him and shrugged.

"Magic." I replied with a wink. "So where to next, partners?" I asked, leaning forward and resting my hand on Sam's headrest, he pulled out the bag of yellow powder and held it up for us to see.

"We need to go to Jerry and see what he makes of this."

"Huh." Jerry said as he looked into the microscope, he had a camera on it projecting whatever was in the microscope onto the computer screen, "This stuff is definitely sulphur." He nodded as he looked up at us.

"You're sure?" Sam asked, Jerry looked at him and pointed to the microscope.

"Take a look for yourself." He welcomed, outside Jerry's office there was a loud banging noise followed by an angry male voice:

"You effin' piece of crap..." Drifted in through the doorway, Jerry sighed and clasped his hands together.

"If you could all excuse me, I have an idiot to fire." He gave us an edged smile and hurried from his office, Dean walked over to Sam as Jerry exited the room, I gazed at the computer screen as Dean looked into it. "Hey. Einstein. Yeah, you. What the hell are you doing? Put the wrench down-." Jerry's angry voice was cut off as I quietly shut the door, blocking off the sound of the employer being rebuked.

"Thanks, Steph. You know, there's not too many things that leave behind a sulphuric residue." Dean murmured.

"So, what does?" I asked them both.

"Demons... You think it's demonic possession?" Sam gave his brother a questioning glance.

"It would explain how a mortal man would ave the strength to open up an emergency hatch." Dean nodded as he looked up at us.

"So, under possession, you think it's possible?" I asked, the film _Constantine _running through my mind.

"Yeah, if the guy was possessed, it's possible." Sam nodded, beside him Dean sighed annoyedly.

"This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean, it's one thing to possess a person – but to use them to take down an entire airplane?" Dean said in a disgusted tone.

"Have you guys ever heard something like this before?" I asked them, hopeful that they would know how to take it out easily.

"Never." Dean shook his head.

_Great._

I didn't like research with Skulduggery and I didn't like it now: we were two hours into our research and our motel room was covered with ancient news articles and weird lore on demonic possession, pages were taped to the walls and strewn across the beds, Dean and I were pretending to be reading research books, but we had secretly purchased comic books downstairs whilst Sam was laying waste into a computer. "So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it." Sam shrugged, beside me Dean looked up from his comic book and gave his brother a confused expression before nodding vigorously.

"Uhh yeah, but none of them, uh, describe anything like this." Dean stuttered, Sam gave him an odd look before continuing.

"Well, that's not exactly true. You see: according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease." The younger Winchester explained.

"And this one causes plane crashes." I answered, getting up from my seat and stretching, glad to be back in my tunic and trousers, "So what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?" I asked them.

"Yeah. You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" Sam nodded, behind me Dean snorted and turned away.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

"I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything – just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big..." The older brother trailed off, looking back at us and then turning his head away again, "And I wish Dad was here" He added in a soft voice, the room fell into silene and I looked between the two brothers – not wanting to interrupt their moment.

"Yeah. Me too." Sam nodded, he looked up at me and I offered up a small smile. Dean's phone burst into _Purple Haze _by _Jimi Hendrix_ and he answered it quickly.

"Hello?" Dean asked, "Oh, hey, Jerry." Dean glanced up at Sam and I and then put his phone on loudspeaker so the whole room could hear the man.

"...Friend, Chuck Lambert is dead." Jerry's mournful voice told us, I widened my eyes in shock and gasped, Sam sat down in his chair and put his head in his hands.

"Jerry; I'm sorry. What happened?" Dean asked.

"He and his buddy went up in a small twin about an hour ago. The plane went down." Jerry answered.

"Where'd this happen?" Dean replied.

"Err about sixty miles west of here, near Nazareth." Jerry's respond came out loud ad clear through the mouthpiece.

"I'll try to ignore the irony of that." Dean muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Jerry asked, confused.

"Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon." Dean assured him and then reached down and hung up the phone.

"So, Nazareth?" I smiled grimly.

"Uh-huh." The two boys nodded and we walked out the door.

We drove straight to Jerry right after we had surveyed Nazareth, we had found a similar yellow dusty substance in the pilot's cockpit and Sam had packed it into another one of the clear plastic bags and had given it straight over to the man. "Sulphur?" Dean asked him, Jerry had put it into his microscope the moment we handed it over to him. He looked up from the microscope and nodded at us.

"Well that's great," I sighed, "So, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him."

"Well, with all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be the good news." Sam responded.

"What's the bad news?" Dean looked up at his brother in confusion.

"Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight. And get this – so did flight 2485." Sam answered, pointing to his imaginary watch for emphasis.

"Forty minutes? What does that mean?" I asked, frowning and tilting my head in confusion.

"It's, err, biblical numerology. You know Noah's Ark – it rained for forty days and forty nights, the number means death." Dean explained backhandedly, I nodded slowly.

"I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in." Sam said, I looked at him interestedly.

"Any survivors?" I asked him.

"No. Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason." Sam replied and I frowned thoughtfully, then snapped my fingers excitedly when something hit me.

"On the cockpit voice recorder – remember what the EVP said?" I asked, pointing to the computer animatedly.

"'No survivors." Dean nodded, cocking his head to the right as he thought about something.

"It's going after all the survivors." Dean realised.

"Trying to finish the job." Sam agreed grimly.

Dean was driving on the way to the airport, Sam was on the phone: "Really? Well, thank you for taking our survey, and if you do plan to fly – please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks." He hung up and smiled happily, "Alright, that takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon." He said.

"So that only means the flight attendant Amanda something is left." I grinned in relief.

"But the problem is, is that her sister Karen told me that Amanda's flight leaves Indianapolis at eight pm. It's her first night back on the job." Sam told us, there was silence and then Dean hit his hands on the steering wheel.

"That sounds like just our luck." He growled.

"Dean, this is a five hour drive, man, even with you behind the wheel." Sam told him quietly.

"Call Amanda's cellphone again, see if we can't head her off at the pass." Dean told him, his foot pressed down on the accelerator and the car sped forward.

"I already left her three voice messages, Dean, she must have turned her cellphone off." Sam shook his head, "God, we're never gonna make it." He sighed.

"We'll make it." Dean told his brother in a determined voice. The car descended into silence and I gripped the headrests and leant forward, silently willing the vehicle to get to the airport all the more faster.

We rushed into the bustling airport and sprinted to the nearest Departure Board, I scanned the board and pointed to the one we wanted. "Right there, they're boarding in thirty minutes." I said.

"Ok, we still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone." Dean told us in a calm tone, we walked away from the crowds and over to a courtesy phone, Dean picked it up. "Hi. Gate Thirteen." Dean said in a nice, friendly voice. "I'm trying to contact Amanda Walker," Dean spoke clearly into the mouthpiece, "She's a flight attendant on fight, umm..." Dean turned to look at the Departure Board, "Flight 424." He told her, he paused and checked the time on the clock on the wall nearby, "Come on." He muttered impatiently, "Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr James Hetfield from St Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here." Dean introduced himself smoothly. "Nothing serious," He assured her quickly, "Just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so-." He stopped abruptly and Sam and I looked at him, Dean paused when Amanda's voice had stopped speaking into the earpiece. "You what?" He asked her dully, the colour draining from his face, "Uh, well... there must be some mistake." Dean tried, Sam and I exchanged a frown and tried to edge closer to the phone so we could hear what Amanda was saying to the older Winchester. "Guilty as charged." It was frightening how quickly Dean's persona changed from a professional doctor to a casual guy, "He's really sorry." He told her in an apologetic voice. "Yes, but... he really needs to see you tonight, so-." Dean frowned when he was cut off again, "Don't be like that," He smiled thinly, his eyes a little panicked, "Come on, the guy's a mess. Really, it's pathetic." He joked feebly, "Oh, yeah." He suddenly nodded, as if he was agreeing with whatever the flight attendant had said. "No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda!" He called into the phone loudly, attracting the attention of the passers by. "Damn it!" Dean exclaimed angrily, slamming the phone back down onto the receiver.

"Don't worry, it's fine. I can try and call her, get her to-."

"It's no use, Steph, we're gonna have to switch to plan B. We're getting on that plane." Sam cut me off, I stared at him in shock, my mouth hung open, Sam looked at his brother and I with a strange look, "Guys, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is gonna crash." He told us, I sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, Sam, we know." I replied.

"Okay. So we're all getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You and Steph get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through the security. Meet me back here in five minutes." He instructed us, I shifted my feet at the thought of getting a plane: I had always hated flying – the idea of dying thirty thousand feet above the ground just made me sick to stomach. "Are you guys... ok?" Sam asked, looking at Dean and I closely.

"No, not really." Dean and I said in unison, we glanced at eachother and smiled weakly, my legs were shaking slightly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sam asked us.

"The flying." I blurted out.

"What about it?" Sam shrugged.

"I hate it, I can't do it." I admitted quietly, suddenly missing Fletcher right now.

"Yeah, me either." Dean joined in, looking a little pale.

"You're both joking, right?" Sam asked, crossing his arms.

"Do we look like we're joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?" Dean snapped at his brother.

"Alright. I'll go." Sam shrugged, Dean and I stared at him in disbelief.

"You're kidding me, right?" I scoffed.

"No, I'll do this one on my own." Sam shook his head and shrugged nonchalantly.

"What are you, nuts?" Dean demanded, and I nodded in agreement.

"Dean's right, Sam. You said it yourself – the plane's gonna crash." I narrowed my eyes at him angrily.

"Right, we can all do it together, or I can do this one by myself: I'm not seeing a third option here." Sa shrugged again.

"Come on!" Dean protested, my head felt light as I looked at the boarding desk and then back to Sam. "Really?" Dean continued, I finally sagged and nodded once.

"Flight attendants, please cross-check luggage before departure." The intercom sounded all around us Sam lightly shoved me down the aisle and into the seat. When I was sat down I looked at my hands and saw they were shaking violently. "Both of you, just try to relax." Sam advised the two of us in soothing tones, I closed my eyes ad tried to beat off the image of the plane crashing onto Earth.

"Shut up, Sam." I murmured as I gripped the armrests of the seats, when the plane started taxiing down the runway my nails dug into the soft cushioned velvet, when the plane lifted off I tilted my head upwards and squeezed my eyes shut as we rose into the air, breathing deeply and trying to think of home.

When I finally opened my eyes I saw Dean was in a similar position to me, only he was humming a song, I recognised the first few bars of _Some kind of monster _by _Metallica _and couldn't help but crack a faint smile. "You're humming _Metallica_?" Sam asked his older brother in disparagement.

"Calms me down." Dean bit out.

"Look, both of you: I get you're nervous, all right? But you have to stay focused." Sam urged, I jerkily tilted my head to him and looked at him in fear, jumping a little as the plane rumbled.

"Relax, it's just a little turbulence, nothing to worry about, Steph." He spoke to me in hushed tones.

"How can I relax, Sam?" I demanded, terror shining in my eyes.

"You just need to chill out, ok? Breath. Because we have thirty two minutes and counting to track this thig down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full on exorcism." Sam explained, I took deep breaths and nodded. Beside Sam Dean leant forward and rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Yeah, on a crowded plane. That's gonna be easy." Dean scoffed and the fear crept back into my stomach again, making my hands shake again, Sam grabbed them and held them tightly and then looked at me with a smile.

"We'll take it one step at a time, alright?" He looked at me with a friendly smile, I nodded hastily, focusing on keeping my breathing under control and fighting the fear down. "Now, who's it possessing?" Sam asked, looking around at the passengers.

"It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armour that the demon can worm through. Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress." Dean shrugged as he surveyed the passengers on the other side of the aisle.

"Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash. If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up." I told them, Dean nodded slowly as his gaze flickered to one of the hostesses moving down the aisle towards us.

"Excuse me, are you Amanda?" Dean asked the hostess, she gave a smile and shook her head.

"No, I'm not." The woman shook her head, Dean gave a small smile and nodded.

"Oh, my mistake." He apologised and the hostess moved on, we all looked at the hostess who was at the front of the plane sorting through some cardboard coffee cups.

"Alright, well, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state." Dean shrugged and stood up from his seat, Sam grabbed his arm before he walked away.

"What if she's already possessed?" Sam asked him.

"There are ways to test that." Dean smiled and went into his rucksack under his seat, he unzipped it and rummaged in it before he bought out a glass bottle in the shape of the Virgin Mary, the bottle was filled with water. "I bought holy water." Dean said, anticipating my next question.

"Does that stuff work?" I asked, trusting my voice not to break in fear.

"You'd be surprised." Dean nodded and held up the bottle triumphantly.

"No." Sam shook his head and snatched the bottle from his brother and tucking it into the pocket of his hoodie. "I think we can go more subtle, if she's possessed she'll flinch at the name of God." He told him, Dean looked at him before nodding.

"Oh, nice." He said, impressed at his younger brother's intuition, he turned to go but Sam reached out and grabbed his arm again. "What?" He asked.

"Say it in Latin." Sam told him.

"I know." He rolled his eyes and walked away.

"What is it in Latin?" I asked the younger brother, watching Dean go.

"Uh, in Latin, it's _Christo_." Sam explained and I nodded, remembering the word for the future. The plane shook and I gasped, flattening myself into the seat and gripping to my armrests so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Hey, hey. It's ok, it's ok." Sam whispered to me, I nodded jerkily and breathed deeply and closing my eyes, when I opened them I saw Dean walking back over to us.

"Right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet." Dean huffed and collapsed into his chair.

"You said _Christo_?" I asked him, he nodded.

"Yeah."

"And?" Sam leaned forward in his seat.

"There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her." Dean sighed.

"So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone, anywhere." I sighed exasperatedly, I released my death gip on the armrests and relaxed my shoulders a little, the plane suddenly shook and I held my head in my hands and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Come on! That can't be normal!" I heard Dean groan.

"Guys, guys, it's just a turbulence, ok?" I heard Sam say but I shook my head and opened my eyes.

"Sam, this plane is going to crash, ok? How can I be calm at a time like this?" I bit out, gritting my teeth.

"Steph's right, Sammy. Quit treating us like we're frigging four." Dean snapped, hoping to make Sam Bck down, but he stood his ground and looked at the two of us calmly.

"You both need to calm down." Sam told us.

"Well, I'm sorry, I can't." Dean shook his head as the plane shook, I ran a hand through my hair and stood up.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." I told them and made my way down the aisle to the end of the plane, I made my way to the bathroom and cursed under my breath when I saw it was occupied and took deep breaths, my hand gripped one of the shelves containing food as I waited for the door to open. When it finally opened the co-pilot emerged and I forced a smile at him and walked into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door as I clutched the sides of the sink, breathing deeply. The co-pilot came back in and looked at me sympathetically.

"You a nervous flyer?" He asked in a kind voice.

"Yeah, it makes me kinda panicky." I laughed shakily and he gave me smile and closed the door, I frowned and the man suddenly lunged, I cried out I shock and fell backwards as the man clamped his hand around my mouth. I tried to fight him but the man was strong – unnaturally strong, his eyes turned black and my own eyes widened in surprise: _well, I found the demon. _Black smoked poured from the co-pilot's mouth and he dropped, his hand falling away from my mouth and I gasped for breath, but it was a bad move. The smoke shot towards my open mouth and poured down my throat, I fell to my knees and tried to cough it back up, but it was no use. I closed my eyes and the cold presence spread through me like a wildfire and the demon smiled my smile, getting up and inspecting me in the bathroom mirror. "Hi, I'm Stephanie." The demon practised and I screamed inside my head, urging my body to get rid of the demon plaguing my insides. The demon felt what I was trying to do and grinned evilly at the reflection in the mirror, my eyes going black. Without wanting my arms and legs to move, I moved out of the bathroom and back to Sam and Dean, they gave me a concerned look as I sat back down.

"Are you ok, Steph?" Sam asked and the demon smiled my smile, making me scream in rage as I was locked away in my head.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you," The demon replied, "I was thinking: maybe the demon's just not on the plane." It suggested, Sam and Dean frowned at me.

"You believe that?" Dean asked and the demon shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, I will if you will." I answered without wanting to.

"No, I don't think so – Amanda's on this plane and she's the target." Sam shook his head, "I think we should check again." He told us and Dean and the demon nodded in agreement. We stood up and the demon followed Sam and Dean as they used the EMF meter to try and detect the demon, we made it to the bathroom and the EMF meter beeped once, the co-pilot exited the bathroom rubbing his head and Dean called out to him.

"Christo." Dean called, the demon took a sharp intake of breath but Sam and Dean didn't notice, inside I was pounding in my head, the demon locked eyes with the co-pilot and changed the colour of it's eyes. The man gasped and his eyes widened, in front of the demon Sam and Dean exchanged a look and the demon changed it's eyes back to my ones.

"I think we got our guy." The demon spoke up, Dean looked at me and nodded thoughtfully, switching the EMF meter off. We made our way to the other end of the aircraft where Amanda was stood.

"She's not gonna believe this." Sam sighed as we neared her, the demon looked at him and tapped my wrist.

"We only have twelve minutes." The demon reminded him and then turned back and smiled, making me rage inside myself.

"Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope." Amanda smiled at Dean.

"Actually, that's kind of what we need to talk to you about." Dean smiled back and spoke in a slightly hushed tone.

"Um, okay. What can I do for you?" Her eyes flickered to the demon as Sam closed the curtain to obscure the passengers from the four of us.

"All right, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole 'the truth is out there' speech right now." Dean told her off handedly.

"Look, we know you were on flight 2485." The demon told her, Amanda's smiled disappeared and she looked at us guardedly.

"Who are you guys?" She demanded.

"Now, we've spoken to some over survivors. We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure." Sam ignored her previous question.

"We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again here, now." The demon told her.

"I'm sorry, I – I'm very busy. I have to go back." Amanda stuttered and tried to brush past Dean, but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second, I'm not gonna hurt you, ok? But listen to me, uh... The pilot in 2485: Chuck Lambert – he's dead." Dean told her, and Amanda faltered.

"Wait. What? Chuck is dead?" She exclaimed.

"He died in a plane crash. Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?" The demon told her, I could feel it was fighting down a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"I-."

"Look, there was something wrong with 2485. Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too." Sam abruptly cut her off.

"Amanda, you have to believe us." Dean urged her, the stewardess looked at the three of us in turn, then bit her lip.

"On... On 2485, there was this man. He – He had these eyes." Amanda stammered.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're talking about." The demon gave Amanda a knowing smile.

"I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?" Amanda asked, confused.

"The co-pilot, we need you to bring him back here." Dean told her.

"Why? What does he have to do with anything?" The stewardess questioned.

"No time to explain, we just need to talk to him. Ok?" I told the woman, and lightly shoved her towards the curtain, she took two steps before turning back to us again.

"How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the co-pilot-."

"Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit." Sam cut her off but Amanda didn't look so sure.

"Do you know that I could lose my job if you-."

"Okay, well you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't help us out." The demon cut her off this time, I watched as Amanda hesitated and nodded once before leaving, and I began fighting in my mind at the demon, but it was no use: being possessed by a remnant was easier than being possessed by a demon from hell. We peeked through the curtain and saw Amanda leading the co-pilot towards us, Sam pulled out the holy water and Dean pulled out his Dad's journal and handed it to Sam, the demon eyed the journal and water and I felt the demon's distress at the sight of the objects. The demon then eyed the emergency exit and smiled to itself, and I began pounding away in my mind, screaming for Sam and Dean to help. The plane suddenly shook and Dean made a face and clung on to the nearby shelves, Sam was looking at me closely.

"Steph, are you ok?" He asked and the demon looked at him strangely and then smiled.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" The demon replied, Sam and Dean looked at eachother and then back at the demon.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sure." The demon smiled wider.

"Uh, wow, you seem... fine." Sam looked at the demon in shock and the demon nodded. In my head I was hammering at the corners of my mind, trying to break the hold and get out. Sam and Dean looked at eachother and the demon frowned and I felt it's confusion, the co-pilot entered through the curtain and frowned.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" He asked, but he didn't get an answer. Dean swung round and punched him on the nose, knocking the co-pilot to the floor, the demon smiled as Dean pinned him down and put duct tape over his mouth.

"Wait, what are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him." Amanda cried out in a whisper as she came in through the curtain, Dean splashes holy water on the co-pilot but stopped when nothing happened and he hesitated, holding up his hand.

"Sam, wait! It's not him, he's not possessed." Dean looked at his brother in confusion, Sam looked back at his brother and nodded.

"You're right." He agreed and turned to the demon, "Christo." He said to it and the demon tried, it tried so hard, not to flinch but it jumped all the same. Sam made a move towards the demon but it held up it's hand and splayed it, the air shimmered and Sam flew off his feet and crashed into the wall.

"I must admit, I'm going to regret sacrificing this body to kill everybody else, she's strong, pretty, in perfect health _and _all this magic that she has to boot." The demon smiled and it's eyes turned black, it held it's hands out and clicked it's fingers and flames appeared. "All this power, literally at the girl's fingertips." The demon sighed happily as it let the flames die out and moved over to the emergency exit and gripped the handle, then faked a look of regret. "Killing poor, not so innocent little Valkyrie will definitely been the most regrettable thing I've ever done, but then again..." The demon trailed off and shrugged and gripped the handle tighter, preparing to wrench it open.

"Her eyes! Oh my God, what's wrong with her?" Amanda exclaimed when she came back in to check on us, her eyes wide and staring at the demon.

"She's possessed and we need to exorcise her." Dean said, not taking his eyes off the demon, the demon laughed and changed the eyes from black to normal, wide eyed and scared.

"Dean you wouldn't hurt me, would you?" The demon mocked, and then chuckled.

"I wouldn't hurt _Stephanie_," Dean corrected, picking up the holy water bottle Sam had dropped, "But you, however..." He trailed off and threw it over the demon, it screamed my scream and covered its face in its hands when the water touched it, sizzling and burning where it hit, when the demon opened its eyes Dean was ready to put duct tape over the demon's mouth and in it to the floor. "Now, Sam!" He called as the demon writhed and struggled below him, above him, Sam had stood up and was holding the journal out. He began chanting in Latin and inside the demon writhed, the cold presence strained and curled inside me, the demon thrashed harder and Dean narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on my wrists "Hurry up, Sam. I don't know how much I can hold her." Dean told his brother and behind him Sam started speaking faster, the words swirled around my head and rung in my ears. The demon fought harder and suddenly broke free of Dean's grip, and used its hand to whip the shadows from the corners of the room, the tendrils whipped at Dean and he fell back, "What the hell was that?!" He yelled as he rolled out of harms way from the sinister lashes, the demon smirked as it stood up and studied the black ring on my finger.

"Hmmm... Valkyrie's memories and thoughts tell me that adept magic she 'dabbles' in, is necromancy. Kinda handy." The demon smirked again and then looked over at Sam, "I know what happened to your girlfriend. I'm guessing she must have died screaming! And let's just say even now..." The demon leant closer to Sam and smiled a knowing smile, "She's burning." The demon whispered, Dean's hands wrapped around its waist and the demon allowed itself to be dragged away from Sam, who now sat there in silence. Dean slammed the demon in the wall, a look of fury on his face, "You're gonna hit Stephanie, Dean. Really?" The demon smirked as Dean faltered, and shoved him away easily. "You know," It said as it walked to the middle of the room, "It's funny, even now Stephanie is trying so hard, locked away in the dark recesses of her own mind, to break free. But I'm stronger than her, and I know her better than anyone right now: I have access to her memories. Thoughts, feelings – you name it..." The demon trailed off and frowned slightly, "And looking through her mind, delving deep down into her head," The demon smiled, "There's someone else in here, and she wants to come out and play... although Stephanie's warning me, even after I took her body over she's still warning me..." The demon trailed off again and Sam and Dean exchanged a confused glance, "Hmmm, what could possibly be so bad that Stephanie would rather have little old me possess her than let the other person in her head surface?" The demon muttered to itself, a look of puzzlement etched onto it's face, "So, come on Stephanie, tell me who it is... who's waiting in the dark?" The demon murmured as it tunnelled deeper into Stephanie's mind.

"Me." Darquesse said and the demon cried out and fell back, clutching it's head. Sam and Dean jumped to it and picked up the journal and began chanting in Latin, Darquesse looked up and smirked, then drifted away, allowing the demon to re-emerge. Another thirty seconds more and the exorcism purged the demon from my mind and body, the cold shadow that had manifested and held me in it's clutches had gone, leaving me gasping on the floor.

"It's gone it's gone it's gone." I breathed, relief washing over me as I flexed my fingers, glad that I was the one doing it.

"Stephanie! Are you alright?" Sam ran over and knelt beside me, I looked up and nodded once.

"Where'd it go?" I asked.

"It's in the plane. Hurry up, guys, we gotta finish it." Dean told us before he rushed out the curtain, Sam helped me up and grabbed the journal before we were both in close pursuit as we entered the main area of the plane it suddenly dipped violently, sending Dean, Sam and I shooting down the aisle and slamming into various objects, I groaned and peeled myself away from the wall, but didn't attempt to step away from it. It was happening: the plane was groaning and passengers were screaming in their seats as the lights flickered, we were going to crash. I glimpsed Sam among the throng of people and my eyes looked down to see what he was trying to do, I splayed my hand and the book shot up and into his hand, he looked over at me and I smiled, he nodded and opened the book, chanting the rest of the Latin script, I noticed Dean on the opposite wall with his eyes screwed shut and a petrified look on his face. The plane suddenly surged as an electrical charge swept through it, the lights stopped flickering and the plane levelled out. The passengers quietened down and the stewardesses came forward asking if everyone was ok, I noticed Sam shutting the book and then staring down at the front cover, his expression unreadable.

We were one of the first to disembark once the plane had touched down, we were stood a little way away watching paramedics and security agents check on everyone, Amanda was being interviewed by someone and the co-pilot was in a wheelchair with a bloodied nose and a blanket draped over him. Amanda caught our eyes and mouthed _Thank you _to us, we nodded and smiled at her. "Let's get out of here." Dean told us and we turned and walked away.

"Never again." I moaned and rubbed my head against a headache, Dean looked over at me and gave me a concerned look.

"You're sure you're ok?" He asked me for the millionth time, I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"I'm a big girl, if I can't handle possession then I just won't make it in the world." I joked, Dean scoffed and shook his head.

"Mmm-hmm." He chuckled and then looked at his younger brother, "What about you, Sam?" He asked, Sam stopped walking altogether and turned to us.

"It knew about Jessica." Sam whispered, and I couldn't help but feel guilty: the demon had taunted Sam in the cruellest of ways using my face, it must be hard for him to adjust from seeing me as a friend then a foe.

"Sam, these things, they – they read minds. They lie, alright? That's all it was." Dean reassured his brother.

"Yeah." Sam muttered, although he didn't sound too convinced.

"Come on. You look like you could both use a bed to fall in." Dean smiled and we continued our walk to the exit.

"Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed." Jerry smiled at us, he had called us into his office the day following the exorcism, and we had reluctantly agreed. "Your Dad's gonna be real proud." Jerry continued, shaking our hands vigorously.

"We'll see you around, Jerry." Sam smiled politely at him.

"You know, Jerry." Dean begun.

"Yeah?" The balding man asked.

"I meant to ask you, how did you get my cellphone number, anyway? I've only had it for, like, six months." Dean asked.

"Your Dad gave it to me." Jerry grinned and we all did a double-take.

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"When did you talk to him?" Sam's question followed closely behind mine.

"I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call." Jerry shrugged his explanation and then smiled again, "Thanks again, guys." He waved before we left his office in stunned silence.

"This doesn't make any sense. I mean, I've called Dad's number, like, fifty times. It's been out of service." Sam explained, we were leaning on the bonnet of Dean's car outside Jerry's building. Dean sighed and pulled out his phone and thumbed the keypad for a few moments, then held it out so we could hear it.

"This is John Winchester. I can;t be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean: 785-555-0179. He can help." A gruff male voice sounded before it cut off, we were silent for a few moments before Sam stalked to the passenger side of the car and slammed it as he got in.

"Poor guy." I murmured, before jumping off the bonnet and walking to the door.

"Steph?" Dean called and I turned and looked at him, squinting in the daylight.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"What's the deal with the necromancy?" He asked and I paused and looked at the cold ring on my finger.

"You'd be surprised how easy I picked it up, Dean. I said I dabbled, I didn't say I dabbled in anything particularly appealing." I told him, before getting into the car and sitting in it without another word.

**Author's Note: Sorry This one's a little late! My work got the best of me this week I guess. I'll upload the next chapter when I get 20 reviews, so comment if you want more!**


	5. Chapter 5

Winchester and Cain Chapter 05 – Bloody Mary

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean sighed happily when the car eventually rolled to a stop in the car park of the hospital in Toledo, Ohio, we were both awake whilst Sam was shifting in his sleep. "Sam?" I called softly, leaning forward and shaking his shoulder lightly, but I didn't get any response from the youngest Winchester.

"Sam, wake up!" Dean shouted loudly, Sam jerked awake and looked around dazedly, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I take it I was having a nightmare." Sam sighed and Dean and I nodded.

"Yeah, another one." I told him, giving him a concerned glance.

"Well, hey, at least I got some sleep," Sam shrugged and then glanced at me, "Unlike _some_." He accused and I shrugged once. It was true: I hadn't been able to get the moment Darquesse broke free from the dark corners of my mind to fight against the demon out of my head, every time I closed my eyes it was there, lying in wait and ready to play the scene in my head.

"I had... things on my mind." I dismissed the accusation back-handedley.

"What kind of things? The fact that your 'dabbling' is in with Necromancy?" Dean scoffed, holding up a hand to show quotation marks.

"I was going to tell you." I mumbled, twisting the comfortingly cold black ring on my finger.

"Yeah, of course you were. That's why when we asked you what else you did you said nothing." Dean snapped at me coldly, and I shrunk in my seat, suddenly missing Skulduggery and my home dearly.

"Stop it Dean, Steph probably didn't tell us because she was scared you were going to react like this." Sam defended me, and Dean glared daggers at his brother, but Sam held his gaze. "And besides," He continued, "We wouldn't have even known about the necromancy unless the demon possessing her hadn't used it." Sam reasoned, Dean gazed at his brother for the longest time before he softened and looked back at me.

"He's right, I'm sorry, Steph. It wasn't _you _who used the magic against us, I shouldn't be punishing you for something you didn't do." Dean reluctantly apologised, and I shrugged simply.

"It's ok, I probably would have reacted the same way." I smiled, and then Dean sighed in relief.

"Phew! Chick-flick moment over." He breathed happily and I raised an eyebrow.

"You're so weird." I announced in an amused tone.

"Right, now that's over and done with. We need to get to the reason we travelled all the way here in the first place." Sam moved the topic on and started rifling through his backpack, "Where is here?" He asked when he bought out a folded newspaper.

"Toledo, Ohio." I told him proudly, and Sam shot me an odd look.

"What? I'm trying to learn how to say it properly so I don't look a fool when we're questioning people." I explained with wide eyes.

"You don't need to pronounce something wrong to scare people, Steph, that's what your face is for." Dean joked and I glared daggers at him, opening my mouth to retaliate with a sharp retort, but Sam cut us off.

"Guys, guys. Can we get back to why we came here in the first place?" Sam held up the newspaper, Dean and I shared a dark look before nodding reluctantly. "The Shoemaker family is sad to announce the sudden death of their beloved husband and father, Steven Shoemaker." Sam read out a section of an article on the front page of the paper.

"Sudden death, huh? What do you think really happened to this guy?" I asked the two boys.

"That's what we're gonna find out." Dean answered as he pulled his keys from the ignition and put them safely in his pocket, I checked I had the correct fake IDs at hand and followed him out the car.

After we had flashed our IDs to the nurse at the reception, we were directed to the room 114 marked _Morgue _, inside there were two desks on the opposite sides of the room, a man was sat at the one at the far room. "Hey." The man greeted us, looking up from the crossword he was trying to complete.

"Hey." Dean greeted.

"Can I help you?" The man greeted, sighing as he set down his pen and moving the crossword out of the way on the desk and looking at the three of us.

"Yeah. We're the uh... med students." I answered, and the man frowned.

"Sorry?" He asked, directing his beady eyes onto me.

"Oh, Doctor-," I stumbled over the name and glanced at the photos on the wall of the morgue technician for inspiration, "Figlavitch didn't tell you?" I asked, making my eyes wide and innocent, feigning the look of a worried student. "We talked to him on the phone. He, uh... we're from Ohio State." I explained quickly, the man nodded slowly, "He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse, it's for our paper." I nodded, trying to be convincing.

"Well, honey, I'm sorry. He's at lunch." The man shrugged with disinterest.

"Oh well he said, uh-."

"Oh, well, you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind just showing us the body, do you?" Dean took over, sensing my strained efforts to try and persuade him.

"Sorry," The man shook his head, "I can't. Doc will be back in hour, you can wait for him if you want." He offered.

"An hour? Oooh..." Dean made a face and glanced at us uneasily, "We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then."

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Uh, look, man, this paper's like, half our grade. So if you don't mind helping us out-." Dean gave his sideways grin, but it dropped when he was cut off.

"Uh, look, man... no." The man mocked, scoffing and looking back down at his crossword again Dean narrows his eyes and forced a chuckle, then he stepped over to the man and I had to pull at his neck collar to drag him back.

"I'm gonna hit him in his face, I swear." Dean mumbled through gritted teeth and I hit him on the arm and gave him a look, meanwhile Sam stepped in front of us so the man wouldn't see and pulled out his wallet. He placed two bills on the man's desk and he greedily snatched up the money and stared at it for a moment before switching his gaze to the three of us.

"Follow me." He smiled and walked away, Sam and I turned to follow but Dean angrily grabbed his brother's arm and swung him around.

"Dude, I earned that money." Dean complained and Sam frowned.

"You won it in a poker game." I scoffed, beside him and he turned to me and nodded.

"Yeah." He looked at me like he'd lost his life savings, I rolled my eyes and walked through the door where the man went, the brothers close behind.

"Now, the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding." Sam asked once we had all gathered around a body covered with a grey sheet on a metal table, the man didn't respond and pulled back the sheet, revealing a middle aged man with blacked out eye sockets and faint black veins under his eyes, reminding me of the remnant occupying Tanith.

"More than that. They practically liquefied." The man grimaced and pointed to the blackened hollow eye sockets.

"Any sign of a struggle? Maybe somebody did it to him?" I asked, but the man shook his head.

"Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone." The man answered.

"What's the official cause of death?" Sam asked.

"Ah, Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure." The man's hand wavered over the corpse's brain.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen." The man smirked, as if he was impressed by how Mr Shoemaker died.

"The eyes and mash; what would cause something like that?" Sam questioned, the man shrugged.

"Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims." He answered.

"Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean asked from behind us, pointing to the lack of eyeballs that the corpse had.

"That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor." The man scoffed.

"Hey, think we could take a look at that police report?" Dean asked.

"You know, for, uh... our paper." I added, smiling.

"I'm not really supposed to show you that." The man hedged, hunching his shoulders and sucking the air in through his teeth. Sam sighed and pulled out his wallet, I glared at the man the whole while he watched the wallet, I knew he was aware I was glaring at him but he didn't meet my eyes as his podgy hand reached forward to take the cash Sam held out.

"You know," Sam said as we were walking down the steps of the hospital, the police report in his hands, "It might not be one of ours, might just be some freak medical thing." He said optimistically.

"How many times in Dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Dean asked his brother with a sarcastic shake of his head.

"Uh, almost never." The younger brother responded.

"Exactly." He nodded, I saw Sam glare at his brother and I decided to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Alright, let's go talk to the daughter." I told them and they both hesitated and nodded.

We were surprised to arrive at the Shoemaker household and find the front door was wide open, we walked in smirking and then stopped short: there was a photo of Steven Shoemaker on a grand oak table with candles and flowers splayed on it, in an adjourning room there was a large group of mourners dressed in black. I looked down at myself and self-consciously shrugged my coat off so I was stood there in my tight black tunic and black jeans. At least I wasn't wearing a chequered shirt and old jeans, I cast a look at the boys and pulled an awkward face. "Does anyone else feel under dressed?" I muttered out the corner of my mouth as I smiled at a person passing by. Dean sighed and shoved me forward, directing me through the house, at the end of the building there was a back door leading to a garden. There were younger people dressed in funeral attire – at least they wouldn't silently judge us so obviously.

"Excuse me," Sam tapped a boy who looked to be around my age and he turned looking slightly tipsy holding a glass of champagne, "Do you know where, errr, Donna and Lilly Shoemaker are?" He asked, the boy nodded dully and pointed a wavering hand towards four girls sat a little way away from the crowd. "Thanks." Sam smiled and we went to move away but the boy grabbed my arm and I tensed and turned back to him.

"Hey, uh, my name is-."

"Touch me again and I'll remove those hands from those pathetic wrists." I narrowed my eyes at him and stalked away over to the girls, Sam and Dean hurried to catch up to me.

"Ouch, Steph." Dean smirked and I shrugged.

"What? I don't have time for sleazy, pathetic guys like him." I answered and fell silent as we reached the girls.

"You must be Donna, right?" Dean smiled out the girl who was reportedly Steven's eldest daughter, she had short, dark red hair and a lithe figure.

"Yeah." The girl sniffed and I smiled thinly at her – I _hated _it when people cried.

"Hi, uh – we're really sorry." Sam told her apologetically and I got distracted and looked around at the drunken throng of people my age: normal kids, doing normal things. I looked at the two girls who sat with Donna, they were both blonde with blue eyes. One of them had her hands around Donna's shoulders and the other one was staring hungrily at the boys, her gaze suddenly snapped to me and she glared at me with a jealous fire in her eyes. I heaved a sigh and rolled my eyes: how did my reflection deal with girls like this on a daily basis? I looked back at Donna and Sam and saw that the boys were looking at me in shock.

"Oh! Sorry, not you. I was just... never mind, go on." I smiled, the girl frowned and Sam stared at me for a long moment before continuing.

"As I was saying... I'm Sam, this is Dean and that's Stephanie. We worked with your Dad." Sam greeted and the blonde girl closest to Donna glanced at her friend and then back to us, I saw suspicion in both their eyes.

"You did?" The girl asked and I nodded.

"Yeah. This whole thing, I mean, a stroke." I made a show of looking sad, but Donna's friend didn't look impressed.

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this now." She dismissed me, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." Donna turned to her friend and gave her a small smile.

"Were there any symptoms: Dizziness? Migraines?" Dean asked.

"No." The watery-eyed girl shook her head.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke." The youngest girl turned and looked at Donna, I recognised the girl as Steven's youngest daughter, Lilly.

"Lilly, don't say that." Donna scolded her little sister.

"What?" Sam looked at Lilly in interest.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset." Donna looked up at us apologetically.

"No, it happened because of me." Lilly shook her head, tears forming in her wide brown eyes.

"Sweetie, it didn't." Donna reassured her younger sister, Sam glanced at me and I sighed and knelt down so I was eye level with the girl.

"Hey Lilly, I know this must be hard. How old are you?" I asked her.

"Eleven." The girl answered in a quiet voice.

"You know, I was eleven when my uncle died. At his funeral I had a bunch of strangers in my house telling me how great he was, when the whole time I was doubting that they even knew my uncle's full name." I told her, the girl nodded once and I smiled kindly at her, "Now, you said your Dad died because of you, why would you say something like that?" I asked.

"Right before he died, I said it." The girl whispered, and I frowned in confusion.

"You said what?" I asked her, moving closer to her.

"Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror." She explained and then paused and took a deep breath, "She took his eyes, that's what she does." Lilly choked out.

"That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault." Donna told her sister in a hushed tone.

"I think your sister's right, Lilly. There's no wait could have been Bloody Mary. Your Dad didn't say it, did he?" I asked her.

"No, I don't think so." The eleven year old shook her head sadly.

"That's enough. Stop it." Donna suddenly snapped at me and I stood up, holding my hands up innocently.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." I told the boys and they nodded and we walked back into the house.

"I wanna check out this bathroom before we leave – maybe there's clues as to why Steven died so suddenly." Sam told us and we followed him up the stairs, the bathroom was like most normal bathrooms, a white cabinet sat above the sink with a mirror on the front door, on the white tiled floor there was still traces of dried blood.

"This must be where his body lay." I said, pointing to where the tiles where whiter than others.

"The Bloody Mary legend... Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked his brother as I traced my fingers around the mirror frame.

"Not that I know of." Dean shook his head, stepping into the bathroom and perching on the nearby bath corner.

"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody

dies from it." Sam continued.

"Maybe everywhere it's just a story, but here it's actually happening." I shrugged and opened the medicine cabinet to reveal a man's toiletries.

"The place where the legend began?" Sam scoffed and I pulled a face as I read the back of a medicine bottle.

"But according to the legend, the person who says B-," Sam glanced at the mirror of the medicine cabinet which was facing him and pushed it shut. "The person who says you know what gets it. But here-."

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." Dean nodded in agreement.

"Right." The younger Winchester replied.

"So, have you guys ever heard of anything like this before?" I asked them.

"Nope, never." Dean responded whilst Sam shook his head.

"Ok, but still: the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and Lilly's right: the way the legend goes – you know who scratches your eyes out." I speculated.

"It's worth checking into." Sam agreed.

"Right, let's go, team." Dean fist pumped with mock enthusiasm and we turned to leave. As we closed the bathroom door behind us a girl was stood there with her arms crossed and a suspicious look on her face.

"What are you doing up here?" She asked us tersely.

"We – we had to go to the bathroom." Dean stuttered and she narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

"You guys and a girl all went into a bathroom at the same time?" She frowned and uncrossed her arms. "Who are you people?" She asked.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's Dad." I told her and she glared at me and scoffed.

"Look, _Stephanie_," She glared daggers at me, drawing my name out, "Donna's Dad was a day trader, or something. He worked by himself." She told us, Dean and I glanced eachother and shared panicked looks.

"No, I know, I meant-." Dean stuttered but the girl cut him off.

"And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming." She threatened, I looked at her and laughed.

"Yeah? You wouldn't be able to so much as _squeak_." I spat and strode over to hit her, but Sam grabbed my shoulder and hauled my back.

"Stop it." Dean shushed but I ignored him.

"Alright, alright. We think something's happened to Donna's Dad." Sam admitted to the girl.

"Yeah, a stroke." The girl nodded, shooting us an odd look.

"That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else." The tallest boy continued.

"Like what?" The teenager frowned in confusion.

"Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth." He answered earnestly.

"So, if you're gonna scream, go right ahead." I smirked at the girl.

"Who are you, cops?" She said after staring at me, Sam looked at Dean and I for a moment, and then back to the blonde.

"Something like that." Dean replied with a smile.

"I'll tell you what, here." Sam rifled in his pockets and pulled out a pen and a small notepad, and then proceeded to scrawl down his phone number. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary... just give us a call." Sam told her before handing her the paper. We walked past her and I made sure to glare daggers at the girl before we rounded the corner and down the stairs.

"Alright," Dean started as we entered the dark, and almost deserted, library, "Say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gonna be some some sort of proof – like a local woman who died nasty."

"Yeah, but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like fifty different versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride – there's a lot more." Sam explained as we walked into the central part of the building, dusty books were littered everywhere and haphazardly stacked on the bookshelves.

"So what are we supposed to be looking for?" I asked, casting my eyes unenthusiastically at the stacks upon stacks of books.

"Well, uh, every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers – public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill." The younger Winchester explained, gesturing around the room.

"Well that sounds annoying." Dean murmured.

"More than annoying, that – that sounds like a method of torture." I groaned.

"No, it won't be so bad, as long as we..." We all looked to the computers and Sam trailed off and I sighed: every computer had paper taped over the screen with _Out of Order _written on it. There was a pause and then Sam chuckled, "I take it back. This will be _very _annoying." He grinned, I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes.

"Like I said, torture." I groaned.

It took us three hours before we eventually left the library and were back in the motel room, Sam had crashed out on his bed and Dean and I had decided to just let him catch up on some sleep. Dean and I were working quietly on the table with books splayed out on the table. Sam suddenly gasped awake and I jumped, looking over at Sam. He rubbed his eyes and glared at us, "Why'd you let me fall asleep?" Sam groaned.

"Because you needed it, Sam, you're exhausted." I told him, shooting a concerned glance at him.

"Yeah, yeah." Sam murmured.

"So what did you dream about?" Dean asked.

"Lollipops and candy canes," Sam sighed sarcastically, and then looked over at us, "Did you guys find anything?" He asked.

"Oh, besides a whole new level of frustration?" Dean smiled thinly, Sam sat up and stretched.

"Dean's right, I mean, we've looked at everything: a few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy called Dave, but uh, no Mary." I explained, running a hand through my long dark hair and slamming the book exasperatedly.

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet." Sam reasoned, but I wasn't so confident.

"We've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know... eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary." Dean shrugged, Sam opened his mouth to object, but his phone suddenly started ringing and he answered it.

"Hello?" Sam answered tiredly.

"And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her – her eyes, they were gone." The girl, Charlie, had called Sam and told him the news, we found her on a park bench crying her eyes out, her flirty friend Jill had been found dead this morning.

"We're sorry." Sam told her in a soft voice.

"And she said it." Charlie looked up at us with red, puffy eyes, "I heard her say it, but it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?" She asked, her eyes darting wildly at the three of us.

"No, you're not insane." Dean assured her.

"Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse." She sobbed and I looked away.

"Look. We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained." I told her, she stopped sobbing and looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"And we're gonna stop it. But we could use your help." Dean added.

"Err what? Actually I think we, uh, we got it-." I was cut off with Sam elbowing me. Hard.

We were waiting for Charlie to open Jill's window outside her house, "Here she is, finally." I sighed when I felt the air shift above us. The window opened and Sam gave me a boost up into the window, when I was in I turned around and helped Sam up, and then helped Dean. When we were all in Dean threw his black duffel bag to Sam and he set it out on the bed.

"What did you tell Jill's Mum?" I asked Charlie.

"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things," Charlie glanced around Jill's room and hugged herself uneasily, behind us Sam was fiddling with something from the bag and Dean was shutting the curtains, "I hate lying to her." The girl shuddered to herself.

"Well, trust us – this is for the greater good. Hit the lights, Steph." Dean said and I walked over to the switch on the wall and flicked it, the room was instantly plunged into darkness, I stood still and blinked – letting my eyes adjust to the dim.

"What are you guys looking for?" Charlie asked through the black.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it." Dean's voice answered. To the left of me Sam had switched on a digital camera, the screen showing the room illuminated through night vision.

"Hey, night vision." Sam's voice drifted over to us and I saw his silhouetted hand adjust the screen angle, "Perfect." He said to himself, I suddenly saw Dean's face appear on the screen and he struck a pose.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Dean joked and I giggled, Sam scoffed and walked away with the camera and I saw him open the wardrobe through the dark.

"So I don't get it. I mean... the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?" I asked.

"Beats me," Dean answered as the sound of a wardrobe door being closed sounded. "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place."

"It was just a joke." Charlie answered.

"Yeah, well, somebody's gonna say it again, it's just a matter of time." I warned her as I stepped in the bathroom, my ring instantly went cold: someone had definitely died here recently. Sam was at the mirror doing something with the camera and I waited in silence for him to finish.

"Hey, Steph?" He called, in the light of the camera I saw his reflection looking at me.

"Yeah?" I asked, stepping over to him.

"In the trunk of the car there's a black light, can you fetch it for me?" He asked.

"Sure." I smiled and stepped quietly into Jill's bedroom, I collided with someone and they screamed loudly in my ears. "Shh!" I shushed Charlie, clamping a hand over her mouth, "Jill's Mum can_not _come up here." I told her, under my hand she was saying something but I had lost interest, I walked over to the curtains and opened one, using one hand to support myself I jumped out. I found the black light in the trunk of the car and walked back over to Jill's bedroom window, using the air to propel myself and reach the window. As I was climbing through I fought down the sudden waves of nostalgia as I remembered the thousands of times I had to sneak in and out of my bedroom window. I pushed passed the curtains and threw the black light to Sam, he caught it and nodded in thanks, he had laid out the bathroom mirror on the bed. I helped Dean peel off the back of the mirror and put it to one side, Sam shone the black light over the exposed back. We walked over to see what Sam was doing and something caught my eye. "There, shine it there again." I pointed to a spot and Sam obliged, the light revealed a hand print on the mirror, Sam moved the light over and another handprint was visible, underneath the print was some lettering.

"Gary Bryman?" Charlie spelled out in confusion.

"You know who that is?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"No."

"So Gary Bryman was an eight year old boy, two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry, but nobody got the plates or saw the driver." Sam told us, we were sitting on the bench in the park again, Sam had his phone out and was reading a local newspaper article fom it.

"Oh my God." Charlie gasped, horror taking over the features of her face.

"What?" I asked her.

"Jill drove that car." She spluttered in a hushed whisper, I looked over at Dean and gave him an alarmed glance.

"We need to get back to your friend Donna's house." Dean told her and she nodded, too shocked to speak.

We snuck into the Shoemaker household and ordered Charlie to distract Donna whilst we went upstairs and prised open the mirror in the bathroom where Steven had died, repeating the same process on the mirror. "Linda Shoemaker." I read out the words as Sam shone the light, I looked up at them and nodded.

"Why are you asking me this?" Donna frowned as she looked at the three of us.

"Look, we're sorry, but it's important." Sam tried, Donna stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"Linda's my Mum, ok? She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident and that's that. I think you should leave." The short haired girl pointed to the door.

"Now Donna, just listen-." I put my hand out in an effort to convince her.

"Get out of my house!" She yelled, cutting me off. I winced at the sudden volume and opened my mouth to say something, but Donna was already running up the stairs.

"Oh my God. Do you guys really think her Dad could've killed her Mum?" Charlie asked us with wide eyes.

"Maybe." Dean shrugged.

"I think I should stick around." Charlie said nervously, looking up the stairs where Donna had run up.

"Alright, whatever you do, don't-." Dean warned.

"Believe me, I won't say it." Charlie cut him off and looked at him seriously.

Back in the motel room, Dean had been nominated to look on the computer whilst Sam and I were looking at all the evidence and clues pinned to a bulletin board. "Wait, wait, wait – you're doing a nationwide search?" Sam suddenly turned to his brother.

"Yep. The NCIC, the FBI database – at this point any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me." Dean nodded, his eyes transfixed on the computer screen.

"But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town." Sam reminded him.

"I'm telling you there's nothing local, I've checked." Dean told us.

"But it doesn't add up: the way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern." I frowned.

"I know," The older Winchester sighed heavily, "I was thinking the same thing."

"With Mr Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run – both of them had secrets where people died." I continued.

"Right. I mean, there's a lot of folklore about mirrors: that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them." Sam explained.

"So maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it; and punishes you for it." Dean speculated.

"Whether you're the one that summoned her or not." I realised.

"Yeah, take a look at this," Dean swivelled the screen around and showed us a black and white grainy photograph of a woman lying by a mirror in a puddle of dark liquid, which I assumed was blood. Dean clicked on another window and it showed a picture of a hand print on the mirror behind the dead girl – the same one that we saw on each of the mirror backs. Beneath the hand print are the scrawled letters of 'Tre'.

"Looks like the same hand print." Sam observed, looking closely at the photo.

"Her name was Mary Worthington – an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana." Dean said.

"Looks like that's our next stop." I smiled.

"I was on the job for thirty five years, detective for most of that." An ageing man in the final years of his job span before retirement, "Now everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder? That one still gets me." The detective paused and sighed.

"What exactly happened?" Dean asked.

"You three said you were reporters?" The detective asked.

"We know Mary was 19, lived by herself. We know she won a few local beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress. And we know the night of March 29th someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife." Sam explained, telling the detective everything he had learnt about Mary in the past hour.

"That's right." The detective nodded.

"See sir, when we asked you what happened, we wanted to know what you think happened." I told him, the detective looked at me for a moment before shifting his chair back and opening a drawer on his desk.

"Technically I'm not supposed to have a copy of this," The detective said, pulling out a file and handing it to us, we opened it and were met with the same picture of Mary's murder scene that we found online, "Now that there?" The detective tapped the writing on the mirror, "T – R – E?"

"Yeah." Dean replied.

"I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer." The detective explained.

"Do you know who it was?" Sam asked.

"Not for sure, but there was a local man – a surgeon, Trevor Sampson. And I think he cut her up good." The detective divulged, I looked up from the photo and at the ageing man.

"Now why would he do something like that?" I questioned.

"Her diary mentioned a man that she was seeing. She called him by his initial, 'T'. Well, her last entry: she was gonna tell 'T's wife about their affair." The detective answered.

"Yeah but how do you know it was Sampson who killed her?" Dean looked at the man in interest.

"It's hard to say," The detective stroked his chin, "But the way her eyes were cut out... it was almost professional."

"But you could never prove it?" I piped up.

"No. No prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous." The detective said, as if he was in awe of the murder.

"Is he still alive?" Sam asked.

"Nope." The detective leaned back in his chair and sighed, "If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could."

"Where's she buried?" Dean asked.

"She wasn't. She was cremated." The detective told us with a shake of his head.

"What about that mirror?" Dean tapped the mirror in the photograph, "It's not in some evidence lockup somewhere is it?"

"Ah, no. It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago." The detective responded.

"You have the names of her family by any chance?" I asked him and the detective nodded slowly.

Whilst we were driving back into the town Sam had been given the job of phoning Mary's only living sibling and inquiring about the mirror, "Oh really? Ah that's to bad Mr Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well maybe next time. Alright thanks." Sam sighed as he hung up the phone.

"So?" Dean asked, his eyes o the road as he drove.

"So that was Mary's brother, the mirror was in the family for years – until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques: a store in Toledo." Sam explained in disappointment.

"So wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?" I asked and Sam nodded.

"Her spirits definitely tied up with it somehow." He said in agreement.

"Isn't there an old superstition that say mirrors can capture spirits?" Dean spoke up.

"Yeah there is. Yeah, when someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped." I answered, remembering Anathem Mire: the ghost who had died in the caves beneath my uncle's house.

"So Mary dies in front of a mirror, and it draws in her spirit." Sam hypothesised.

"Yeah, but how could she move through like a hundred different mirrors?" I questioned.

"I don't know, but if the mirror is the source, I say we find it and smash it." Dean said as he turned a corner and passed by the main street of town.

"Yeah, I don't know maybe-," Sam stopped when his phone started ringing, "Hello?" He asked, a panicked voice was on the other end, but I couldn't figure out what was being said, "Charlie?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat.

We had driven straight to Charlie's and found her in the basement shaking in fear and shielding her eyes. "Hello?" She called out when we entered her basement.

"Charlie, what happened?" Sam asked as he ran over to her.

"I saw her." Charlie sobbed out in a strained whisper.

"What? How?" I asked as Dean and I reached her.

"Donna." She breathed out and started crying, I looked at Dean and he shrugged. Rolling my eyes I stripped off my jacket and draped it around her head.

"This'll cover your eyes whilst we take you somewhere safer." I told her and her arms dropped by her sides.

"T-thank you." She whispered and I shrugged.

"It's fine," I told her before turning to Sam and Dean, "Where do we go?" I asked them quietly so Charlie couldn't hear.

"I don't know - anywhere without a reflection?" Sam shrugged and I sighed.

"How about our motel room?" Dean shrugged.

"It'll work. " I nodded and walked back over to Charlie, "Charlie? It's Stephanie. We're gonna take you with us and put you somewhere safe, ok?" I told her in a calm tone and she let out a broken sigh of fear.

"Ok." She whispered.

I was sat on the bed next to Charlie whilst Sam and Dean closed the curtains and put sheets over the mirrors and the TV screen. Whilst Dean was covering the final surface Sam came over and sat on Charlie's over side. "Hey, hey it's ok. Hey, you can open up your eyes Charlie. It's okay, all right?" Sam spoke to her in a calm tone, I reached over and carefully lifted my jacket from over her head. The girl had her head bowed underneath it and looked up slowly at us, I tried to not let it creep me out and sent her a convincing smile. "Now listen. You're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, ok? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you." Sam assured her.

"But I can't keep that up forever," Charlie shook her head fearfully, "I'm gonna die, aren't I?" She asked, her gaze switching over to me.

"No, not anytime soon." I smiled at her again and put a hesitant hand on her shoulder, she suddenly sniffed deeply and I let go of her shoulder and shot up from the bed, shuddering to myself. Dean gave me a look and took my place next to Charlie.

"Alright Charlie, we need to know what happened." Dean said as he settled down next to her.

"We were in the bathroom and Donna said it." Charlie answered in a shaky voice.

"That's not what we're talking about. Something happened, didn't it? In your life: a secret - where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?" I asked her as I sat down on a nearby chair next to a covered TV.

"I had this boyfriend. I loved him, but he kinda scared me too, you know?" She looked at me for support and I nodded.

"Yeah, I get that." I grimaced, forcing pictures of Caelan out of my mind.

"Well one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said 'Charlie if you walk out that door, I'm gonna kill myself'," Charlie paused and took a deep breath, tears running from her eyes, "And you know what I said? I said 'Go ahead', And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just...I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." Charlie started shaking again, and I suddenly felt sorry for the girl.

"Hey, you didn't expect him too, Charlie. I'd have walked away too." I told her as I got up from the chair and walked over to her. Her blue eyes bored into mine for the longest time before she replied.

"Really?" She asked.

"Really."

I scowled at the rain outside the window in the back of the car as we drove to the antique store that bought Mary Worthington's mirror. "You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault." I said, glaring at the droplets as they rolled lazily down the window.

"Yeah, but spirits don't exactly see shades of grey, Steph. Charlie had a secret, someone died: that's good enough for Mary." Sam answered, looking back at me in the car.

"Whatever, this bitch deserves what's coming to her. Did you see how scared Charlie was?" I answered.

"Yeah... about that: I've been thinking, it might not be enough to just smash that mirror." Sam stated.

"Why? What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Well Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it." Sam suggested, I looked away from the mirror and frowned at the youngest Winchester.

"Well, how do you know that's going to work?" Dean responded, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sam.

"I don't." He answered.

"Well, who's gonna summon her?" I asked, leaning forward in my seat.

"I will. She'll come after me." Sam replied in a stony voice.

"What?" I asked in a shocked voice.

"You know what? That's it." Dean growled and suddenly turned the steering wheel and the car veered off the road and into a layby, "This is about Jessica, isn't it?" He demanded as he glared at his younger brother through the dark. Sam stayed silent in his seat, his gaze fixed on something ahead of him, "Well who's gonna summon her?" Dean ranted on angrily.

"Dean, shut up." I told him in a loud, clear voice, "Sam you need to listen: this has to stop - the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night, I'm scared it's gonna kill you." I told him in a quiet voice, Sam's eyes flickered up to the mirror and I saw him looking at me in the mirror. "Now listen to me," I looked at his reflection, "It wasn't your fault, Sam." Sam opened his mouth to reply, but Dean beat him to it.

"If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place." Dean told him.

"I don't blame you." Sam looked at his brother through the dark, the sound of the rain hitting the car was deafening.

"Well you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done." Dean continued, his voice softer than before.

"I could've warned her." Sam shook his head slightly.

"About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides, all of this isn't a secret, I mean, me and Steph know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway." Dean scoffed annoyedly at his little brother.

"No, neither of you don't." Sam argued.

"We don't know what?" I asked.

"You two don't know all about it. I haven't told you two everything." Sam responded.

"Sam, what? What are you talking about?" I asked, getting scared of Sam's demeanour.

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret if I told you two, would it?" He answered and then went back to staring out the window. Dean stared at his brother in disbelief before shaking his head stubbornly.

"No. I don't like it. It's not gonna happen, forget it." Dean told him in a firm voice.

"Dean's right, are you crazy?" I asked him, suddenly angry that he would play the sacrificial lamb to a crazy dead bitch.

"Guys, that girl back there is gonna die unless we do something about it. And you know what? Who knows how many people are gonna die after that? Now we're doing this. You both have to let me do this." Sam exclaimed, the car descended into an uneasy silence again, Dean reluctantly reversed the car and we were back on the road again.

We were still silent as we waited for Sam to pick lock the door open, we entered the shop and were met with a room full of antique mirrors. "Well that's just great." Dean sighed as he bought out the photo of Mary's murder scene, "Alright, let's start." He said, we split up and silently picked our way over the trinkets and past the glass vases, I clicked my fingers and flames flared up in my palms, illuminating a warm orange glow around the shop.

"Maybe they've already sold it." I suggested, calling out to the two silhouettes of Sam and Dean. The taller figure fished something out of his pocket and clicked it on, I squinted as a torch suddenly shone on my face, blinding me.

"Ow!" I complained as I staggered out of the way of the light, leaning against a century-old dresser and blinking the weird shapes from my eyes.

"Sorry." Sam muttered.

"Found it." Dean's voice cut through the dark and I stood up and made my way over to him, Sam was already beside him shining his torch on the mirror. Dean held up the picture and I saw the immediate match.

"And you're sure about this?" I asked Sam, he nodded once and handed Dean his torch.

"Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary," Sam paused and looked over at us, Dean and I gave him unsure looks and Sam sighed and hefted a crowbar in his hands, "Bloody Mary."

We waited for about twenty seconds in silence when two pairs of beams moved across the back wall of the shop, I turned and saw the red and blue lights of two police cars. "I'll go check that out," Dean said and looked at Sam, "Stay here, be careful." He ordered his brother, I went to follow Dean but he put a hand on my shoulder to stop me, "Look after him for me." He asked and I nodded once.

"Be careful." I looked at him for a moment before turning back to Sam, his eyes were still on the mirror. I turned and looked at the mirrors, out the corner of my eye I saw something in the mirror. I whipped round and looked at the mirror, but the thing wasn't there any more.

"You won't be able to see Mary, so take this," Sam picked up an iron poker from the side and handed it to me, "And I'll tell you where hit."

"Thanks." I murmured and looked down at the iron poker, I looked back at the main mirror and saw a shape on my right, I turned and Sam looked at me, concerned.

"Steph?" He asked, looking down at me, I raised my hand and snapped my palm out, the air rippled and Sam shot out of the way, I drove the iron poker through the mirror and it smashed, the shards of glass burst outward and I close my eyes against the sharp objects, when I opened them there was just a broken mirror with nothing inside it. Sam scrambled up and rushed over to me, "Steph? Steph! What's wrong?" He asked, pulling pieces of glass from my hair.

"It's fine, she's gone now." I assured him and pointed to a cluster of mirrors a few meters away, "I'm gonna check over there, you stay here." I told him, Sam nodded once and I walked away with the iron poker firmly in my grasp. I stood watching the mirrors closely, but nothing shimmered into view, it was silent inside the shop and the poker was starting to feel heavy in my hands. I heard the sound of Sam gasping for breath and whirled. "Sam?" I asked, trying to fight the fear from my voice. Sam didn't respond, and I wandered back over to where he stood, I gasped when I saw his face: blood was lazily dripping from his tear ducts. "Sam!" I shook his shoulders but h's bloody gaze continued to stare at the mirror, "Son of a bitch." I growled and swung the poker into the mirror, it smashed and Sam gasped for breath and crumpled to the floor. "Sam? Sam! Come on!" I called his name loudly as I knelt beside him, shaking his shoulders lightly.

"Sam!" Dean's voice sounded behind me and then the sound of running footsteps came and he was beside us in moments. "No, no, no. What happened?" He asked as he knelt down.

"I was stood over there and then I looked over and he was... bleeding from his eyes and staring at his reflection, so I smashed the mirror." I explained in hurried words, Dean sighed and looked up at me.

"It's fine, it's fine," Dean sighed and slapped his younger brother lightly. "Sam" Sammy!" He called loudly.

"It's Sam." Sam croaked and opened his eyes and I sighed in relief, I saw a shape in one of the mirrors that I had previously stood next to and walked back over to it, when I reached it the shape had gone, all that remained was my reflection. I stared at the mirror and swore I saw my reflection narrow it's eyes at me. I tilted my head and widened my eyes when the reflection didn't copy movements like it was supposed to.

"Look at you," It said in a sinister voice, "Hiding behind this fake name, this fake life," The reflection cocked it's head and glared, "Darquesse," It smirked and blood began to drip from it's eyes, I reached up and dabbed at my cheek, gasping when I felt the warm liquid under my fingers. A pain blossomed in my forehead and the breath hitched in my throat, "How many families have you torn apart?" It asked, "How many loved ones have you destroyed?" It smiled and the pain intensified across my head, I wanted to scream and alert Dean, but my lungs were empty and on fire. "How long until either Sam or Dean die because of you, Darquesse? You're an abomination." The reflection leant forward and the blood continually flowed down her and my face, I thought my head was going to burst. A crowbar suddenly smashed through my reflection and it smashed, the glass cascaded down the frame and pooled onto the ground as my knees buckled.

"Steph! Stephanie!" My eyes found Dean's face looking down at me, his dark eyes brimmed with concern, "Come on, come on. Steph!" Dean shook me by the shoulders and I coughed as the pain slowly faded away.

"I'm ok, I'm ok. Get Sam." I told him as he helped me to my feet, I swayed a little and gripped the table and leant heavily against it. Dean came into view supporting Sam with his brother's arm around his neck.

"Uhhh..." Dean trailed off when he saw how I could barely stand, let alone walk.

"Keep going, I'll be following." I grimaced and pushed myself from the table, Dean nodded and he set off towards the shop exit, practically dragging Sam. I stagered two steps before I stopped and waited for the room to stop spinning. The sound of glass crunching made me turn around and I was met with the sight of Mary Worthington, crawling out the mirror. "Uhh, Dean." I called out weakly.

"What?" He asked from behind me and I heard him curse, Mary advanced and I backed away unsteadily, colliding with something and looking back to see Dean.

"Any ideas?" I asked and he shook his head. I raised my hands and feebly snapped my palms out, the air rippled and Mary staggered back a few steps, but that was pretty much it. "Oh for God's sake." I groaned and clicked my fingers, flames grew in my palms and I threw them at the advancing corpse, she dissipated and reappeared, a sinister gleam in her eye.

"Anything else?" Dean asked and I shrugged.

"Just one." I murmured as I grabbed the shadows from around the room, absorbing Mary's death and sharpened them, firing sharpened shadows at the corpse, they whipped and tore at Mary and she screamed, but then she grabbed hold of one and snapped it and it faded into smoke. "Yeah, plan B - run." I told Dean and we turned and started towards the exit again. We made three steps before we all cried out and fell to the floor, I felt blood trickling down my face and the searing pain in my head behind my eyes. Mary had a small smile on her face as she advanced towards us, I wanted to scream and thrash but the pain was too great, increasing at every step Mary took towards us.

"I got an idea." Dean huffed out and I nodded.

"Yeah? Go ahead!" I replied, Dean reached up and grabbed a mirror and held it out to Mary. The woman stopped walking and looked deep into the mirror, hopefully she was getting a taste of her own medicine, her face contorted as blood dripped down her face. She melted down into a pile of blood and I gasped as the pain receded, Dean groaned and threw the mirror down, where it smashed terrificly on the floor. I looked over at Dean and coughed, Sam had long since passed out.

"Hey Steph?" He said and I looked up at him.

"Yeah?" I answered, exhausted.

"This has got to be like, what? Six hundred years of bad luck?" Dean joked weakly and I managed a grin.

Sam was still asleep in the front of the car as we pulled up in front of Charlie's house, she had gasped when she saw our bloodied faces and hooded eyes, and it had taken the whole journey to try and convince the girl that we were alright. "So this is really over?" Charlie asked for the hundredth time, I looked over to her and nodded.

"Yeah, it's over." I reassured her.

"Thank you." She smiled and reached forward to shake Dean's hand, then she turned and surprised me by enveloping me in a hug, I stayed frozen and she chuckled lightly in my ear. "If you don't hug me back this id gonna get really awkward really fast."

"Yeah, you got my hands pinned down." I replied and Dean chuckled from the front.

"Oh." She said and released me and I nodded.

"Yeah..." I smiled, as an after thought I leant forward and shook Sam awake gently, "Hey, sleepyhead!" I shouted into his ear and he jerked awake.

"Wha?" He answered groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"Time for farewells, Sammy." Dean said and he looked back at Charlie.

"Oh, bye." Sam waved to the girl tiredly and she smiled.

"Bye guys." She grinned and got out the car and began walking up the path to her house.

"Charlie!" Sam called out the open window and the girl turned and looked over to him, "Your boyfriend's death... you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen." Sam advised, Charlie smiled warmly in return and then turned and walked into the house. Dean reached over and hit Sam lightly on the shoulder.

"That's good advice, Sammy." Dean smirked at his brother, Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes as we drove away. I stared out the window of the town as we drove out of it and then remembered something.

"Hey Sam!" I asked and he looked around.

"Yeah?"

"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell Dean and I what that secret is." I told him.

"Well, that's a, uh, that's an interesting question, Stephanie, seeing as you received the same treatment from Mary as I did. You must also have a secret you've been keeping from us." Sam countered, his eyes gazing at me challengingly as he eyed me in the rear view mirror.

"Ah, a secret for a secret, huh?" I asked and Sam nodded.

"Right, ok." I nodded, "Back in my world, there was a, uh, a prophecy, of sorts... It showed me becoming someone who ended all life as we know it." I explained in a flurry of words.

"Wait... What?" Dean asked after a moment of silence, I took a deep breath and started again.

"In my reality, I was set to become the person who inevitably ended all life as we know it. She was... all powerful, evil, malicious. But now I'm here I don't think she's there anymore." I told them, Sam looked behind him and gazed at me.

"Where is she now?" He asked, surprisingly calm.

"She's always been there in my head, locked away in my mind securely." I assured them.

"You're sure?" Dean asked.

"No," I sighed, "But it's all I have at the moment, so I'm gonna go with the assumption that this isn't her reality to destroy." I admitted.

"Well, ok... But if you feel that you're gonna... turn evil any time. You tell us." Dean told me firmly.

"Ok." I smiled and then looked at Sam, "Your turn." I told him.

"Look, I just think that there are some things that I need to keep to myself." Sam informed us, a guarded look in his eyes, I was silent for all of two seconds.

"What!" I exploded, "Sam, do you know how long I had that secret to myself before I told my mentor slash best friend?" I screamed, but Sam wasn't listening, he was looking at something out the window.

"Leave it, Steph." Dean told me and I sighed and shrugged my coat off, using it as a blanket I drifted off in the back seat, welcoming the sleep that overtook me.

**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews! I'll update the next chapter when I get, hmm... 25 reviews? I really didn't realise how much time I needed for these chapters, please tell me whether it was worthwhile or not in your reviews below.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews! ****I know the last part of that chapter was so rushed, but complications occurred and I lost the final thousand words, let's just say it didn't bode well with me.**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 6 – Skin

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I sighed in relief when Dean pulled the car up outside a petrol station, I got out the car and stretched gratefully. Dean and Sam got out the car also and we leant against the large bonnet of Dean's car. "Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, the head south – hit Brisbee by midnight." Dean said, I nodded in agreement: it was a good driving strategy, sometimes being in that car for hours on end was tiresome. Sam didn't respond, he just stared at the stone chips on the concrete ground, I frowned at him in worry: he had been silent since the entire car journey. It was unnerving. "Sam wears woman's underwear." Dean piped up, he had been getting more and more irritated by his brother's silence.

"I've been listening, I'm just... busy." Sam looked up and peeked at what he was doing o his phone, he was checking his emails, scrolling down through them.

"Busy doin' what?" Dean asked, squinting at his brother through the bright sunlight.

"Reading e-mails." He answered truthfully, Dean got up from the bonnet and walked over to the petrol pump, proceeding to fill up his car.

"E-mails from who? " I asked him, Sam looked up at me.

"From my friends at Stanford." He answered, I nodded slowly.

"You're kidding," Dean scoffed as he put the pump back in it's holster, "You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" He asked.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Well, what exactly do you say to them?" I asked him, "You know, where you've been, I mean – you can't exactly tell them what you've been doing for the past few weeks." I continued.

"Well I tell them I'm on a road trip with my big brother and a friend, I tell them I needed some time off after Jess." He told me, and I softened.

"Oh." I murmured.

"So, you lie to them?" Dean piped up.

"No, I just don't tell them... everything." Sam trailed off and looked away from his brother's gaze.

"Yeah, hate to break it to you Sam, but that's called lying. I mean, hey, I get it: telling the truth is far worse." I told him with a glare.

"You're just saying that because you're still sore that you told us that you used to be a world-killer and I didn't cough up my secret. Anyway what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" He asked, Dean wandered back over to us whilst my eyes narrowed into slits at the taller Winchester, Dean shrugged and Sam's eyes widened, "You're serious?" He spluttered.

"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people. Period." Dean answered in a hard tone and I nodded in agreement.

"He's right, you know. Even in my old world – I barely had time for my family, let alone friends." I told him.

"You're both kind of anti-social, you know that?" Sam responded, Dean and I exchanged a look and shrugged simultaneously.

"Yeah, whatever." Dean muttered, but Sam wasn't paying attention to us, his gaze was zeroed in on his phone again.

"God..." The younger Winchester murmured, and I looked over to him.

"What?" I asked.

"In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine." He explained.

"Is she how?" Dean piped up, but Sam and I ignored him.

"I went to school with her and her brother, Zach. She says Zach's been charged with murder, he's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." He continued.

"Dude, what kinda people are you hanging out with?" Dean asked in amazement and I edged a smile.

"No, guys. I know Zach – he's no killer." Sam denied.

"Well, maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you." I quipped, Sam whipped around and narrowed his eyes at me, but I gazed evenly back at him.

"They're in St. Louis, we're going." He said, Dean chuckled, much to my surprise.

"Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, ok? But this does not sound like our problem." Dean hedged, Sam looked up at his brother and shook his head.

"It is our problem. They're my friends." Sam said in a stubborn tone.

"St Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." Dean argued, Sam bored his eyes into his brothers and Dean sighed and walked over to the car.

"Wait, you can't be serious?" I groaned.

"Get in the car, Steph." Dean ordered, I rolled my eyes and slunk into the backseat, "Aren't we gonna pay for the petrol?" I asked as we drove away.

"With what money?" Dean asked, I shrugged and stared out the window at the lack of scenery. Driving was dull. 

It took us the rest of the day, but we eventually pulled up in front of a white typically American looking house, a girl with white-blonde hair with light brown eyes answered the door, she broke into a huge grin when she saw Sam. "Oh my God, Sam!" She exclaimed in a cheery tone.

"Well, if it isn't little Becky." Sam responded, smiling down at the girl.

"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." She grinned wryly at Sam before enveloping him in a hug.

"I got your e-mail." Sam said, his tone going deeper with an apologetic tone, they stepped out of the hug and she nodded slowly.

"I didn't think you would come here." She shrugged and gave a sad smile, Dean sudenly stepped forward and held out his hand.

"Dean. Older brother." He introduced himself, giving a sideways smirk and a flirty gleam in his eyes. I rolled my eyes at Sam and he shrugged: like it was normal for his brother to do this.

"Hi." Rebecca said as she shook his hand.

"Hi." Dean gave her a wide smile, showing pearly teeth.

"And who's this?" Rebecca said, looking around Dean and at me.

"I'm Stephanie." I gave her a small smile and she returned it.

"Well, hi." She said and my smile grew wider.

"Hey." I returned.

"Well, now that's out the way, we're here to help. Whatever we can do." Sam explained as Rebecca turned back to him.

"Come in." She held the door wide open and we walked through to the living room.

"Nice place." Dean commented as he looked around the room.

"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zach's free." She explained.

"Where are your parents?" I asked.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial..." She trailed off and looked down at the floor, she cleared her throat and walked into another room, "Do you guys want a beer or something?" She called from the other room. Dean chuckled and gave a smile.

"Hey-."

"No thanks." Sam cut him off, Dean hit him on the shoulder and I sighed.

"So," I said as Rebecca walked back into the living room, "Can you tell us what happened?" I asked, she pulled a face as she sat down on a sofa.

"Well, um, Zach came hime, and he found Emily tied to a chair. She was beaten up bloody, and she wasn't breathing," She broke off and took a deep breath, looking back up at us with tears in her eyes. "So, he called 911 and the police – they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zach could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police – they have a video, it's from the security tape from across the street. It shows Zach coming home at 10:30, now, Emily was killed just after that. But I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight." Rebecca explained as a few tears ran down her cheeks.

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene – Zach's house." Sam said, laying a hand on Rebecca's shoulder.

"We could." I nodded as she looked up at us.

"Why? I mean, what could you do?" She asked, doubt clouding her teary eyes.

"Well, me, not much. But Dean and Stephanie? They're both cops." Sam replied, and Dean chuckled next to me.

"We're detectives, actually." He corrected.

"Really?" She asked, looking at Dean and I in disbelief, I nodded convincingly at her, "Where?" She asked.

"Well, I recently transferred from Dublin, Ireland to join Dean in," I paused and edged a smile, "Let me see if I can get this right." I lied with a smile, trying to remember a state that we'd been to recently.

"3, 2, 1 and you lose, Steph," Dean stepped in, sensing my discomfort, and looked at a very confused Rebecca, "It's a game we play to try and get her to remember the states, we're from Brisbee, Arizone. Although we're both off-duty now, obviously." He explained smoothly, Rebecca nodded in understanding and gave a kind smile.

"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just – I don't know." Rebecca hedged, I shot a glance at Sam and gave him a silent signal for help.

"Bec, look, I know Zach didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove he's innocent." Sam gave the girl a wide eyed, pleading stare and Rebecca softened.

"Ok, I'm gonna go get the keys." She nodded and walked out of the room, my smile disappeared when she was out of earshot.

"Oh my God that was close," I sighed in relief and looked at Dean, "Thanks for the hand in, Dean. I was completely frzozen on a stupid name for a state." I smiled and Dean shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I know from the start you've never been able to wrap that head of yours around the places, Sweet-cheeks." He grinned mischievously and I fought down the urge to hit him. I failed. "Ow!" He moaned, rubbing his arm with a forlorn look on his face. Sam chuckled and Dean silenced him with a death glare, "What are you laughing at, huh? Some friend picker you are, a real straight shooter." He seethed, Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's comment.

"Look, Zach and Becky need our help." He tried once again to convince us but I shook my head sadly at the taller Winchester.

"Dean's got a point, I don't think this is our kind of problem." I told Sam gently, but Sam narrowed his eyes as he looked down at me, with me being so tall for my age it was an odd feeling.

"Two places at once? We've looked into less." He argued, I sighed, defeated and looked at a family picture of Rebecca and another man who looked to be a little younger than Sam: Zach, I had no doubt.

"Right, are you guys ready to go?" Rebecca asked as she walked back into the living room, her keys in her right hand.

"Err, yeah. We'll follow behind you." Dean smiled at her and she nodded happily.

"Great." She grinned. 

"You sure this is ok?" Rebecca asked as we we met her outside Zach's house, she glanced at the house uneasily and then looked back at Dean and I.

"Yeah, we're officers of the law." Dean gave Rebecca and assuring smile. We walked up into the house in silence and opened the door, ducking under the police tape that lined the house, blood was smeared on the walls, like someone had tried to paint over the house.

"Bec, you wanna stay outside?" Sam called to the girl, I looked back and saw Rebecca standing outside on the porch, biting her lip and fiddling with her hands, she caught my eyes and a sudden look of determination spread across her face and she shook her head.

"No, I wanna help." She answered and ducked under the police tape, her eyes darted around and looked at the blood coloured on the walls.

"Tell us what else the police said." I asked her, her gaze snapped back to mine and she swallowed a lump in her throat before replying.

"Well, there's no sign of a break-in. They said that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers – they're already talking about plea bargain," She suddenly sobbed uncontrollably, "Oh, God..." She murmured, trailing off as she looked around the red splattered room.

"Look, Bec, if Zach didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" Sam asked her, stepping forward and looking at her sympathetically, Rebecca shook her head but then bit her lip.

"Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes – Zach's clothes, the police: they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown, sometimes people get robbed," She paused and the sound of a dog barking angrily filled the silence, Dean and I walked to the front door and looked out, the neighbour's dog was leaning up on the fence snarling at us, rage in it's brown eyes. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." Rebecca told us as she came up beside us and stood with us watching the angry animal.

"What happened?" I asked, looking at the blonde girl.

"He just changed." Rebecca shrugged.

"Do you remember when he changed?" Dean asked her, glancing at me.

"I guess around the time of the murder." She answered, my eyes widened and I raised my eyebrows at Dean. We left Rebecca standing in the doorway and saw Sam looking at the photo's scattered about on the mantelpiece, one had fallen on and broken, I crouched down and picked it up carefully, placing it on the shelf next to the others.

"So, the neighbour's dog went psycho right around the time Zach's girlfriend was killed." Dean told Sam as I positioned the photo carefully.

"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." Sam murmured, his mind clearly on something else.

"Yeah, maybe he saw something." I nodded.

"So you guys think maybe this is our kind of problem?" Sam asked us, turning away from the photo he was looking at.

"No, probably not." Dean shook his head, Sam looked away, crestfallen, "But we should look at the security tape." Dean added.

"You know, just to make sure." I added, Sam looked back at us, I saw him trying to fight a smile edging the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah." He agreed, the smile winning and springing up on his face.

"Yeah," Dean echoed, quietening down when Rebecca approached us, "So, the tape. The security foortage – you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause neither me or Stephanie have that kind of jurisdiction." Dean asked her.

"I've already got it," Rebecca said hesitantly, glancing at Dean and I uneasily, "I didn't wanna say something in front of the cops." She admitted, Dean chuckled and I grinned, "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see for myself." She explained.

"Sounds fair." I nodded and looked at the two boys, "So, we ready to leave?" I asked them, they nodded and we left the bloody scene in silence, I shot the photos one last glance and sighed inwardly.

"Here he comes." Rebecca said, pointing at the screen we were all watching, we were watching the security tape on Sam's laptop in Rebecca's living room, the tape showed us Zach entering his house.

"22.04, that's just after ten. You said the time of death was about 10.30." Dean said, noticing the time stamp on the corner of the screen.

"Our lawyer's hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic, it wasn't tampered with." Rebecca answered with a sad sigh.

"Hey, Bec?" Sam looked away from the screen and at the girl, "Can we take those beers now?" He asked, I frowned: Sam was trying to get her to leave the room, and it worked – Rebecca nodded and got up and walked towards the door, "Hey." Sam called over to her and she turned, "Maybe some sandwhiches, too?" He asked, and she scoffed.

"What do you think this is, Hooters?" She smirked and then left the room.

"What's Hooters?" I asked in confusion.

"Never mind, Steph," Dean chuckled and then looked at his brother, "What is it?" He asked. Sam tapped the mousepad so the video paused, then he rewound it back forty-two seconds.

"Check this out." Sam told us, we watched the screen as Sam pressed play, one of the frames showed Zach looking up at the camera, his eyes were flashing silver, Sam pressed pause and the screen froze on Zach's wicked smile and fiendish silver stare.

"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean shrugged, but looking at how... corrupt and evil Zach looked made me do a double-take.

"I don't think so, it's not the usual camera flare you'd expect to see." I said, looking up from the screen and at Dean.

"You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." Sam stated and we both looked at him: how does he know these things?

"Right." Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Remember that dog that was freaking out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach's, something that looks like him but isn't him." Sam looked up at us, silently hoping one of us would take his side.

"What, like a doppelgänger?" I asked, looking back at the screen again.

"Yeah, it'd sure explain how he was in two places at once." Sam shrugged.

I was glaring at the back of Sam's head as we drove to Zach's house, it was 5.30 and the sun hadn't even risen yet, we had researched and gone to bed less than two hours ago, only to be woken up by Sam. "Alright, so what are we doing here at 5.30 in the morning?" Dean asked as we pulled up slowly behind the house so we wouldn't be spotted by suspicious neighbours.

"I realised something: the videotape shows the killer going in, but not coming out." Sam answered as we got out of the car, I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, letting it sit in the base of my palm. I looked over at Dean and saw he was staring at the fire with awe flickering in his eyes.

"Hey, Sammy?" I asked as we stood by the car watching the sky lighten up as the sun slowly rose.

"Yeah?"

"You still didn't explain why we were doing this after we only went to bed at 4." I gave him a tight smile.

"Well Steph, I thought that if we did this at this time then less people would be around to see us snooping around a crime scene that we're not allowed to be around." Sam told me, giving me a pointed look.

"Oh." I replied.

"Yeah."

"Anyway," Dean broke the silence by clearing his throat, "He came out the back door?" He asked his brother, leaning against the car.

"Right. So, there should be a trail to follow – a trail the police would never pursue." Sam nodded.

"Because they think the killer never left," I cognized, putting the pieces together, and they caught your friend Zach inside..." I trailed off as the sun burst through the skyline, illuminating everything with a soft warm shade reminding me of the marigolds that my Mum grew at home. "I still don't know what we're doing here at 5.30 in the morning." I complained, letting the flame in my hand die out, Dean chuckled and we walked over to the house, searching around the back of the house in silence.

"Blood." I heard Sam say, I turned and saw he was looking at a nearby telephone pole, in the light I could see a dark crimson staining the metal.

"Somebody must have come this way." I said, giving Sam a grim look.

"Yeah, but the trail ends, I don't see anything over here." Dean spoke up, I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by a loud, wailing siren. An ambulance rushed past us with it's lights flashing and it's siren blaring out the distress call, it rounded the corner and was lost from sight, the sound could still be heard in the distance. I looked at Dean and we exchanged a look. Then, at an unknown signal, the three of us broke into action and ran back to the car, speeding away after the vehicle.

We found the ambulance a few streets away, several police cars had joined in on the scene, the flashing of the lights may have looked pretty, but the several policemen emerging from the house with a man with a bloodied face ruined it spectacularly. "What happened?" Dean asked a nearby witness.

"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her." The witness told us, shaking her head sadly.

"Really?" Sam asked her, she turned around and looked at the three of us in turn.

"I used to see him going to work in the morning," The woman sighed as the police put the man in the car, "He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." She turned back around, Sam and I exchanged a glance as the police cars drove off.

We waited until the ambulance and the bystanders had cleared away, then we broke into the house and looked around it, Dean had taken up the job of questioning the patrol man, whilst Sam and I searched the inside and the outside of the house. I sighed after finding nothing of use inside the home, I spent five minutes staring at the bloody bedroom and broken parts of furniture that were thrown around it. I met Sam outside and saw the same look of disappointment on his face that matched mine, "Find anything?" I asked as I neared him, the younger brother shook his head.

"No, nothing, how about the inside?" Sam responded.

"Just a bloody crime scene, same as the last." I answered with a sigh.

"Hey." Sam and I turned and saw Dean walking over, "Remember when me and Steph said that this wasn't our kind of problem?" Dean asked and Sam and I nodded simultaneously.

"Yeah." We answered in unison.

"Definitely our kind of problem." Dean nodded.

"What'd you find out?" I asked him.

"Well, I just talked to the patrol man who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story: apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." Dean relayed the story to us.

"So, he was in two places at once." Sam pointed out.

"Exactly, then he sees himself in the house – police think he's a nutjob." Dean nodded.

"Two doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." I murmured, staring at the light glinting off the bonnet of Dean's car.

"Could be the same thing doing it, too." Dean replied, my gaze switched back to the boys and I saw Sam looking off in the distance in deep thought, then he looked at Dean.

"Shapeshifter?" He guessed, Dean shrugged and I tilted my head, "Something that can make itself look like anyone?" He supplied.

"Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know: legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men," Dean explained and then looked at me, "Do they exist in, uh, in your world?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I once heard that it was an adept power, but it's not known to exist as a monster." I shook my head and Dean sighed.

"Ok, so what are we looking at? Skinwalker, werewolf?" Sam asked.

"Well, we've got two attacks within blocks of eachother. I'm guessing we've got a shapeshifter prowling the neighbourhood." Dean looked up and down the street.

"Well, yeah, but let me ask you this: in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the older Winchester.

"Not that I know of." Dean shook his head but gave me a smile.

"I picked up a trail here, someone ran out the back of this building and headed out off this way." Sam said, pointing off out behind the house.

"Just like your friends house." I pointed out, Sam nodded.

"Yeah, and just like at Zach's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared." The younger brother replied.

"Well, there's another way to go: down." Dean answered, we looked down and saw the manhole closest to Sam's feet, I looked up and sagged.

"You're freaking kidding me." I muttered but I didn't gain a reply.

We prised open the manhole and descended down an old, rusting ladder that creaked as we went down it, halfway down the long ladder I decided to lean back and close my eyes. "Steph, you ok?" I heard Dean's voice drift down to me, I nodded and let out a breath and let go of the ladder. "Steph you're going to fall if you do that." He told me, I opened my eyes and nodded again.

"Why do you think I'm doing this?" I asked him with a smile, confusion crossed his features and above him Sam looked over his brother's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, but I was already leaning further back, my hands splayed out and I smiled when I found the spaces where the air connected and moved.

"Stephanie!" Dean shouted my voice as I stepped off the ladder and plummeted down into the darkness, I opened my eyes and smiled at the feeling of the speed I was falling at. At the last moment I moved my hands and my descent slowed, my feet touched down gently on a metal grated floor, my smile widened into a grin as I looked up and saw how far I had fallen.

"Steph!" I heard Sam's voice and squinted my eyes through the dark, I clicked my fingers and a flame suddenly illuminated the dark underground.

"I'm here!" I called back up to the boys, I heard Dean's angry mutters and rolled my eyes. It didn't take long for the boys to join me on the gloomy passageway, Dean looked mostly annoyed whilst Sam was looking at me with awe.

"How did you do that?" He asked as soon as his feet hit the metal grating.

"I channelled the air to slow my fall so I wouldn't go splat." I answered lazily, looking at the dancing flame that was cupped in my palm.

"Yeah well, next time can you give a little warning before you jump off a ladder without a word?" Dean scolded me, I nodded and smiled.

"Sorry." I apologised half-heartedly, Dean grunted in response and clicked on a torch that Sam handed him.

"I bet this runs right by Zach's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Sam murmured, shining his torch around the passageway.

"I think you're right, look at this." Sam and I turned to Dean and he pointed to something lying in the corner, I moved my hand and concentrated: the flame in my hand grew bigger and Sam's torch beam shone down, a pile of slimy, pale and bloodied flesh was discarded on the ground, my stomach did a flip and I blanched.

"Is this from his victims?" I asked in a quiet, hollow voice. Dean made a face and took out his hunting knife and used it to hold up some of the skin, I reeled back and bumped into Sam, he steadied my shoulders and gave Dean a look.

"You know, I just had a sick thought," Dean started.

"You think?" I scoffed, glancing at the skin and fearfully.

"What if when the shapeshifter changes shape – maybe it sheds." He suggested.

"You're right. That is sick." Sam nodded, Dean rolled his eyes and threw the bloody pile on the ground, it squelched and quivered and I looked away quickly.

I stood a little way away whilst Dean and Sam opened the trunk of the car and started sorting through their weapons, "Well, one thing I learned from Dad – is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." Dean said as he held up a pistol and some bullets.

"Silver bullets to the heart." Sam nodded to his brother, I walked over and Dean looked over to me.

"You ok?" He asked, his tone full of concern.

"Yep." I muttered and grimaced, "It's just... things like that are just. Awful." I told him, Dean nodded slowly and held out the pistol to me.

"We've got three in the set, might as well put them to good use." He shrugged, I grinned a little and held the gun in the two handed grip Skulduggery had taught me, Dean turned to Sam and raised his eyebrows, "Someone knows their way around a gun I take it." He observed, pointing to the gun, I looked down at the firearm and shrugged.

"What, me?" I asked innocently, skilfully breaking it open to reveal the empty bullet chambers and holding it back to the older Winchester, he took it and grinned, loading six silver bullets into the chamber and handing it back to me. Sam's phone started ringing and he answered it quickly after checking the caller ID.

"This is Sam." He answered. A girl's voice sounded out through the speaker, but I couldn't make out the words, "We're near Zach's, we're just checking some things out." Sam answered, there was a brief pause and Sam sent us a panicked look. "What are you talking about?" He faked a chuckled, I sent a wide-eyed look to Dean and then we turned back to Sam, his fake smile was no longer on his face, "Why would you do that?" He asked, the worry spreading through his features like a wildfire. "Bec-." He tried but was cut off abruptly, the voice on the other end of the phone getting angrier and angrier, "We're trying to help." Sam tried to explain weakly, but he was cut off once again. "Bec, I'm sorry, but -." He sighed as the person on the other side of the phone hung up rudely. Sam sighed and looked down at his phone, a faint look of disappointment clouding his expression. Dean looked at me and I shrugged,

"You know, I hate to say it," Dean walked over to his brother, "But that's exactly what Steph and I were talking about earlier. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you: they'd be freaked. It's just – it'd be easier if-."

"If I was like you and Stephanie." Sam cut him off with a sigh, Dean shrugged and I rolled my eyes at him and stepped forward.

"Hey," I tapped Sam's shoulder lightly and he turned and looked down at me, "I hate to say it but, like it or not – we're not like other people. I mean, at least your Dad knows about what you do, my parents? They have no idea." I told him, Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Then how did you manage to do all your detective work without your parents knowing?" Sam asked.

"I, uh, I did a spell that made my reflection come to life to take my place whilst I wasn't about – it's a long story." I smiled a small smile whilst Sam looked completely confused, "So anyway, what you do with your brother: look at all the things you've done for helping people." I tried to convince him.

"And," Dean came over and held up a gun in his hand, "This whole gig – it ain't without its perks." He grinned and handed the gun to Sam, he shook his head but I saw a smile etched onto the younger brother's face, when we were all set we closed the trunk of the car and walked back to the manhole.

The sewer was definitely the worst place we had been in so far, it was dark, gloomy and stank of waste. Sam and Dean armed themselves with torches in one hand and guns in the other, I had a flame in one hand and was holding my gun in the other. We walked along the sewer quietly, I was constantly looking down in case we tripped on anything undesirable. "I think we're close to its lair." Dean broke the cheerless silence.

"Yeah? Why do you say that?" Sam asked, I looked back at the older brother and saw he was giving a nonchalant shrug.

"Because there's another puke-incducing pile next to your face." Dean pointed with his torch I shut my eyes, refusing to look at yet another pile of flesh and guts.

"Oh God!" Sam's disgusted voice rang through the darkness and the air shifted beneath my palms, a hand fell on my shoulder and I turned around to see Dean.

"Come on, no time for daydreaming, Steph." He smiled and steered me down the passageway and round a corner. Sam was waiting for us with his torch beam falling on a pile of dirty clothes that had been abandoned in the dark.

"Looks like it's lived here for a while." I observed, standing back as Dean walked over to look at the clothes Sam had found.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam asked rhetorically as he turned around, a look of alarm spread across his face and I frowned, "Steph!" He called, pointing behind me. I whirled and turned to see a man standing there, the air shifted wildly and I glimpsed a fist going in for the uppercut, I turned my face to avoid it but it still clipped me on the underside of the jaw – it wasn't enough to concuss me but it was enough to shock me, the shapeshifter turned and sprinted away and suddenly my legs vanished from underneath me, I collapsed to the ground as the flame in my hand dissipated. Sam and Dean fired shots after the shapeshifter but Dean swore as the shapeshifter rounded a corner and was lost from sight. Sam ran over and helped me to my feet, "Are you ok?" He asked me and I nodded, trying to get over the loud ringing in my ears.

"Get the son of a bitch." I growled and we sprinted off after the shapeshifter.

We traced the shapeshifter outside on the street and lost him there, I swore when seemed the shapeshifter had gone. "Aright, let's split up." Dean ordered, "Go with Sam." He looked at me, I readied my gun and nodded.

"We'll meet you around the other side." I replied and Sam and I turned and walked away at a face pace, I had my hand out and began to read the air in case something decided to jump out at us, the soreness on the left side of my face serving as a bright reminder of the last encounter with the monster. We found nothing on our side of the building and we were waiting in silence for Dean to meet us, my hands were still subtly reading the air for shifts. After a few minutes the air shifted and I turned, expecting the worst, I relaxed when I saw Dean approaching.

"Hey," He greeted, causing Sam to turn beside me, "Anything?" He asked.

"No," Sam sighed annoyedly, "He's gone."

"Alright," Dean nodded slowly, "Let's get back to the car." He told us, we nodded and crossed the street before a car passed, forcing Dean to wait.

"You think he found another way underground?" Sam asked as we stood outside the car, waiting for Dean to unlock it.

"I don't think so, I didn't see any oth-."

"Yeah, probably," Dean spoke up, cutting me off abruptly, "You got the keys?" He asked, I frowned at Dean: he's never cut me off before. Sam paused for a moment before turning around and facing his brother.

"Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" Sam asked, hunching his shoulders in an effort of apathy.

"Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form – a psychic projection, remember?" Dean answered, Sam hesitated before answering and I narrowed my eyes: did he suspect his older brother?

"Oh, right. Here ya go." Sam tossed the keys to the car to Dean, gave me a pointed look and walked away, I followed close behind.

"Do you suspect him?" I asked him in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, that's _not _Dean." He nodded.

"Well, what do you wanna do?" I queried.

"Just follow my lead." Sam told me, pulling out his gun and stepping back to Dean, "Don't move!" He ordered in a clear voice, Dean turned with a look of shock on his face, I stepped up behind Sam and aimed my gun at Dean too.

"What have you done with Dean?" I demanded.

"Guys, chill. It's me, alright?" Dean answered in a surprised tone.

"No, I don't think so. Where's my brother?" Sam asked with an angry shake of his head.

"You're about to shoot him," Dean frowned, "Both of you, calm down." He told us.

"You caught those keys with your left, you're right handed." Sam responded, his gun not wavering.

"Oh God, Sammy, I can catch with both hands and you both wanna shoot me for it." Dean rolled his eyes and I frowned.

"You're not Dean." I argued, Dean tilted his head at me and gave me a challenging look.

"Why don't you pull the trigger then, huh?" Dean smirked and took a step towards us, "Because you're not sure. Come on, you know me." Dean pressed, I frowned as he moved towards Sam, my finger hovered and hesitated over the trigger, I turned to Sam and him an unsure look.

"Don't." Sam told Dean firmly, his older brother smiled before brandishing a crowbar and hitting Sam twice with it, Sam slumped to the ground and I cried out in fear, Dean smiled and turned to me.

"Stay back!" I yelled at him, trying to force my gun hand to stop shaking. Dean's smile grew wider as he advanced, "Listen to me, you-." I was cut off when Dean suddenly lunged, grabbing my gunhand and twisting it behind my back, I gave a small cry of pain and Dean chuckled, moving the hair out of my face.

"Shhh," He whispered to me, tears slid down my face in fear and he gave me that sinister, unfriendly grin. His hand moved up and covered my mouth cutting off my air supply, I screamed under it and reached up with my other arm and swung wildly at Dean. I connected with the side of his head and he grunted and grabbed my arm, securing them both behind my back as my heartbeat pounded in my ears, my eyelids soon grew heavy and the darkness came and found me, the last thing I saw was the child-like gleam I had seen in Dean's eyes that I had grown to adore so much.

I woke up in a small, dusty abandoned room and sighed in pain as I remembered the events that had happened earlier, I went to move my hands but found that they were securely bound by a cold metal. Shackles. Dean came out from the darkness and violently backhanded me, his palm hit my cheek with a crack and I let out a small scream of pain. "Don't you touch her!" I heard Sam's voice roar at the shapeshifter loudly as I groaned, I looked up through my hair to see Dean grinning at Sam wildly, "Now tell me where he is, where's Dean?" Sam continued angrily.

"You don't really wanna know," Dean chuckled, in the half light I saw his eyes glinting silver, "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family... I thought _I _came from a bad background." Dean laughed louder and I frowned.

"What do you mean, 'learn'?" I asked in confusion, the shapeshifter stopped laughing and looked up at me slowly, he held both sides of his head and closed his eyes, a grimace of pain appearing on his features. I looked over to Sam in fear but he was staring at the shapeshifter in confusion. After a few more moments the shapeshifter relaxed and let go of his head, when he looked back up at us he was smiling evilly.

"Oh, wow. He's sure got issues with you." Dean grinned at Sam, showing white, perfect teeth, "You got to go to college, he had to stay home. I mean, _I _had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own?" The shapeshifter feigned a look of hurt and I shifted uncomfortably: feeling like I was intruding on a family matter, "But Dad needed me... where the hell were you?" He demanded angrily.

"Just stop. Where is Dean?" I called out to him, Dean turns and glares at me, walking over towards me.

"And you," He said, venom lacing his tone, "You come out of nowhere and suddenly reveal that what? You're a sorcerer? I mean, sure you're hot and all... but you have that quality..." He trailed off when he reached me, I stared at one spot on the wall, refusing to look at him, Dean chuckled and crouched down in front of me. "What is it about you, that I can't put my finger on, huh?" His laughter died as his hand shot out and grabbed my chin, I struggled and strained, but it was no use, I glared at him as his silver eyes gazed into mine. "Oh yeah, you're going to inevitably destroy the world." He grinned and let go of my head violently, pushing it aside so my neck clicked painfully. He smirked as I looked back up at him, "I mean," He continued, "I thought Dean here was a freak, but you... you're so much worse." He ruffled my hair and I jerked away from him.

"Get off her!" Sam shouted aggressively to the shapeshifter, he turned to him, immediately forgetting about me.

"You got something to say, Sammy?" Dean asked as he strode over to Sam.

"Yeah, where is my brother?" Sam asked again.

"I _am _your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends, you could have a life. Me? I _know _I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me." Dean leant closer to Sam, who frowned up at the shapeshifter.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, confusion written on his face.

"You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me too. No explanation, nothing. Just poof. Left me with your sorry ass... But still, this life? It's not without its perks." The shapeshifter laughed, using Dean's line from earlier, "Ah God, I meet the nicest people. Like Steph over there, and little Becky. You know, Dean would bang them if he had the chance," Dean shrugged and smiled, "Let's see what happens." He concluded and punched Sam in the chin, Sam's head rocked back and he fell unconscious, Dean smirked and covered him with a sheet. Then he walked over and crouched in front of me, I looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Your turn to decide, sweet-cheeks," He said, "Pick one, you or Becky?" He asked. I turned my head to face him slowly and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Go to hell." I whispered to him angrily, he laughed and slapped me across the face before he walked out the room, leaving me alone in the dark.

The door opened slowly and I squinted through the bright light, Dean walked through with a concerned look on his face as he walked over to me, "Hey," He said to me in a gentle voice but I ignored him, "Steph, its me." Dean pressed and I glared at him.

"That's what you said last time." I seethed acidly.

"We don't have time for this, where's Sam?" Dean asked, my eyes flickered to where Sam was covered with the sheet, Dean walked over and threw the sheet off of his brother, Sam's head was still bowed and his eyes were shut, "Sam? Sammy!" Dean called loudly, slapping his brother awake, Sam groaned and lifted his head.

"Dean?" Sam asked groggily.

"Who else?" Dean smiled and bought out his lockpicks and started fiddling with Sam's shackles, "Now, that be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature." Sam laughed and sighed in relief as his shackles clattered to the floor and he rubbed his raw, red wrists.

"Oh, Stephanie." Sam breathed as he walked over to me, pushing my ruffeld hair from my face, "Are you ok?" He asked gently, as Dean approached behind me and started fiddling with the locks on my cuffs.

"Just peachy." I responded flatly, giving him a look as the handcuffs fell to the floor, I rotated my wrists and flexed my hands as I stood slowly, "He went to Rebecca's looking like you." I looked at Dean, he sighed for a long moment before he shrugged.

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome brother." Dean smirked, Sam shot him a glare as we walked out of the narrow room.

"Yeah that's the thing," Sam explained as we tried to make our way out of the place, it seemed like we had been taken to an old basement somewhere on the edge of town, "He didn't just look like you, he _was _you. Or he was becoming you." Sam continued, I nodded in agreement whilst Dean shot us both a confused glance.

"What do you both mean?" Dean asked.

"I don't know how to explain it, it was like... he was downloading your thoughts and memories." I narrowed my eyes as I remembered the shapeshifter holding his head and grimacing.

"You mean, like the Vulcan mind held?" Dean wondered, and Sam nodded.

"Yeah, something like that, maybe that's why he didn't just kill us." Sam suggested.

"Maybe he needs to keep us all alive. Psychic connection." Dean responded.

"Yeah, maybe..." Sam trailed off doubtfully.

"Come on, let's get out of here. He's probably at Rebecca's already." I told them, pointing to a large door with light spilling out of it.

We had made it outside onto street level, but Dean's car was back outside the first manhole where we had entered the sewer, as we were walking quietly down the street towards Rebecca's house Dean and Sam had stopped and were looking through a shop window, I back tracked and saw they were staring at a news report being shown on the TV screen of an electronics shop. "An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker – a white male: approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home." The news reporter told us, a sketch of Dean appeared on the screen and Dean groaned annoyedly.

"Aw man! That's not even a good picture." He moaned and I edged a smile, despite the situation at hand.

"Yeah well, it's good enough." Sam told us, looking around cautiously as he walked away, Dean sighed and looked after his brother.

"Aw man!" He sighed and we followed the younger Winchester into an alleyway.

"Come on, they said attempted murder. At least we kno-." I started to say, but was cut off, yet again, by Dean.

"I didn't kill her." He finished.

"We'll check Rebecca in the morning, see if she's alright." Sam responded.

"Alright," Dean agreed, "But first I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him." Dean proclaimed angrily.

"But, we have no weapons. No silver bullets." I argued.

"Steph, the guy's walking around with my face, ok? It's a little personal. I wanna find him." Dean answered, I looked at the fiery determination in Dean's eyes and nodded slowly.

"Ok," I nodded, then gestured to the rest of the town, "Where do we look?" I asked him.

"Well, we could start with the sewers." The older brother suggested and Sam sighed.

"We have no weapons. He stole our guns, we need more..." Sam paused for a moment before he spoke again, "The car?" He asked, a look of untold rage crossed Dean's features and I was taken aback by the sudden fury overtaking his emotions.

"I'm betting he drove over to Rebecca's." Dean growled.

"The news said he fled on foot, I reckon it's still parked there." I answered, trying to calm Dean down.

"The thought of him driving my car." He replied, upset, I raised an eyebrow at the older man; he really _was _ in love with his car.

"Alright, come on." Sam rolled his eyes and we emerged from the alleyway quietly.

"It's killing me!" Dean cried out after we took two steps up the street.

"Let it go." I told him.

We made it to Rebecca's house in good time, Dean instantly brightened when he set his sights on his beloved vehicle, "Oh, there she is! Finally something went right tonight." Dean sighed happily, the relief evident in his tone, I glanced at Sam and he shrugged, Dean was all but set to run to the car but a police car pulled up beside it, I looked at Dean and it was like watching his heart break in two. "Ah, crap," He groaned and then looked back at Sam and I, "This way, this way." He motioned towards the fence and we both followed suite. Dean jumped the fence and I prepared myself to clear it, but then Sam reached out and grabbed my hand.

"You go, we'll hold them off." Sam told his older brother, Dean frowned at his brother.

"What are you talking about? They'll catch you both." Dean protested, confusion lilting his voice.

"Look, they can't hold us. Just go, keep out of sight. Meet us at Rebecca's," Sam assured him, Dean turned to go but Sam called him back, "Dean!" He called, his brother turned and looked at him questioningly, "Stay out of the sewers alone." He told him, Dean didn't answer: he just turned away and continued walking, "I mean it!" He shouted to him.

"Yeah, yeah!" Dean's answering call was distant, but enough to make Sam smile a little.

"Don't move!" A voice shouted behind us and we froze, "Keep your hands in the air where I can see them." The voice ordered, we turned slowly and raised our hands quickly, two police officers shone their torches at us and sighed, "Ah forget it, it's just a young couple." The officer told his colleague.

"Oh no, we're not-." I started to say, but Sam stamped on my foot and silenced me quickly, but it wasn't needed: the officers were already walking away.

"That was close." Sam sighed and then looked down at me, "Come on." I nodded and we walked up to Rebecca's house.

"So, say this shapeshifter is real. By the way, you know you're both crazy? But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?" Rebecca asked as she replaced Sam and I's empty beer bottles with new ones.

"Thanks," He sighed and paused before answering, "Silver bullet to the heart." He told her and I nodded in agreement, Rebecca chuckled as she looked down at the two empty beer bottles.

"You both really _are _crazy." Rebecca said, suddenly something was being smashed over our head and we blacked out, glass falling down through my hair.

I woke up to Dean finishing tying my hands and feet with rope and metal, I looked around and saw Sam was also bound do a kitchen chair, just like me. "Oh for fu-."

"Hush." Dean scolded, putting a finger to my lips, his eyes flashed silver and I groaned: twice in one night? I felt the familiar burning of rope and suddenly had a brain wave, I went to click my fingers but frowned when I couldn't move my hands to do so, Dean noticed and smirked, "What's the matter, Steph? Can't conjure one of those nifty little flames? That's because I had the great sense to tie your hands so tight thay wouldn't be able to move to do such a thing." Dean exlpained proudly.

"What are you gonna do to us?" Sam asked from across the kitchen.

"Oh, I'm not gonna do anything. Dean will, though." He smirked evilly and I glared.

"They'll never catch him." I told him bravely.

"Oh doesn't matter. The brutal murder of his own brother and their pretty little nowhere girl? He'll be hunted the rest of his life." Dean smiled and walked over to the kitchen dresser, he pulled out a drawer and started sorting through all the kitchen knives. I moved my hands in vain, trying to loosen the ropes to get out of it.

"I must say," Dean said as he finished choosing his collection of knives, a bottle of bourbon was set out beside it, along with a glass, "I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother's got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do." Dean continued, I kept my face expressionless as I moved my hands behind my back, they had loosened slightly and I was getting closer to freedom every passing second, Dean was pouring himself a drink and he raised it cheerfully to us, "Cheers." He smiled and downed the drink before picking up a large meat cleaver and walking over to Sam. I strained harder against the ropes as Dean neared Sam, I sighed happily as my right hand finally ripped free. I clicked my fingers and soon burned through the bindings, I looked up and saw the knife nearing the artery on Sam's neck, I moved my hand out and snapped my palm, the knife flew from Dean's grip and clattered across the tiled floor, Dean growled and his head whipped around and glared at me and I smiled sweetly at him, he moved towards me and I concentrated, manipulating the air so a knife flew from the table and floated carefully into Sam's lap. I looked up at Dean as he toward over me, his hand swung back, ready to punch me but then hands wrapped around his waist and pulled Dean away, Sam swung the knife at Dean but the shapeshifter grabbed his arm and twisted it, Sam groaned and fell to his knees. Sensing the sudden urgency, I drew in the shadows from the room and slashed the ties around my legs, I jumped up and gave a roundhouse kick at Dean, my foot connected with Dean's jaw and he groaned as he staggered away, rubbing his head, "Oh, you little bitch." He glared striding towards me, Sam jumped up and grabbed Dean again, firing punches into his torso and then two to his face, Dean coughed and looked up at us with a split lip. "Not bad, little brother." Dean spat blood onto the floor,

"You're not him." Sam said firmly as he stood over his older brother, Dean chuckled and sprung into action, shoving Sam out of the way and going for me, I elbow blocked the first swing and ducked under the second, then responded with three quick jabs to the chest and neck, Dean's breath hitched in his throat and he spluttered, he kicked out and sweeped my legs from underneath me, I fell to the floor, Dean grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed it into his knee, stars burst out in front of my eyelids and I sat dazed, blinking slowly as blurry outlines of Sam and Dean fought, suddenly Sam was slammed into the bookcase and he collapsed as the bookcase fell apart, books and trinkets falling down upon him.

"Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass." Dean smiled smugly at Dean, I found my legs and staggered over to Dean whipping the shadows at him, tendrils snapped at his arms and dug into his flesh, he gasped as blood spilt from his arms and fell to the floor, Dean turned and grabbed a pool cue from the table, he bought it in a wide arc and it slammed into my cheek, I fell again and wasn't able to get back up I realised I had fallen close to Sam and saw he was struggling to get to his feet, I breathed out slowly and saw too late the pool cue slamming down onto me, Dean was holding the pool cue tightly pressed against my throat with his foot and had his hands wrapped around Sam's throat, my lungs burned and my head felt heavy as the cue was held against my throat.

"Hey!" I heard a voice, the shapeshifter turned and the pressure was released from my throat, I lay there gasping in great lungfuls of air, a gun fired twice and hit the shapeshifter on the chest, he fell to the ground, my ring going cold as the life left the monster.

"Sam!" A girl's voice sounded distantly and I saw Rebecca rush over to where Sam was laying. Dean crouched by the shapeshifter's body and yanked something from around his neck and then he ran over to me and crouched down, throwing the pool cue away from me.

"Hey, hey, hey. Steph." Dean said to me, his voice sounding distant, I blinked up at Dean slowly.

"Dean," I coughed, finding my voice, "Nice timing." I complimented weakly, he chuckled and reached under me, picking me up bridal style and heading for the living room sofa, whilst Rebecca was directing Sam to the chair.

"So, this is what you do? You, your brother and Stephanie – you hunt down these kinds of things?" Rebecca asked as we slowly descended the porch steps, we had spent two days in Rebecca's house cleaning up and fixing the injuries we had sustained in the fight: mine was no more than a concussion, cuts and bruises and several rope burns, Sam's shoulder was still quite badly injured from the bookcase but he insisted he was well enough to travel.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sam nodded and Rebecca looked at Sam in awe.

"I can't believe it," She exclaimed, "I mean, I saw it with my own eyes. And, I mean, does everybody at school – nobody knows that you do this?" She asked, Sam shook his head and then she looked at me, "And how about you, Steph: do your school friends have any idea what you do?" She asked.

"Uh, no." I answered.

"Oh, ok then..." She trailed off for a moment and then looked hesitantly up at Sam, "Did Jessica know?" She asked quietly, Sam looked at the girl thoughtfully for a moment.

"No, she didn't." He answered quietly.

"Must be lonely." Rebecca observed sadly.

"Oh, no. No, it's not so bad is it, Steph?" Sam looked at me and I shook my head.

"Nah." I replied.

"See? Anyway, what can I do? Dean's my brother and, well, Steph is Steph." Sam and Rebecca laughed and I hit him lightly.

"Well, you know. Zach and me, and everybody at school – we really miss you." Rebecca told him in a sad voice as she hugged him tightly.

"Yeah, me too." Sam answered truthfully, then they let go and he smiled down at her.

"Well, will you call sometime?" Rebecca asked him hopefully.

"It might not be for a little while." Sam made a face, Rebecca nodded and turned to me.

"Well, thanks for letting me use your sofa as I was passed out." I smiled at her a little awkwardly, she laughed and suddenly enveloped me in a tight hug, I gave Sam a look of shock and unease and he chuckled as I patted Rebecca's back awkwardly.

"Thank you. For everything." She told me earnestly, then she turned and waved to Dean, he waved back and gave her a wink, I rolled my eyes at her and she grinned before walking back into her house, Sam and I walked back over to where Dean was stood pouring over a map on the bonnet of his beloved car.

"So, what about your friend, Zach?" The older Winchester asked, not looking up from the map as we approached.

"Cops are blaming this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder, they found the murder weapon in the guy's lair – Zach's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with, so Becca says that Zach will be released soon." Sam explained, Dean rolled his eyes as he folded up the map and got into the car, Sam and I followed.

"Sorry man." Dean broke the rare silence we had as we drove away from the town quickly.

"About what?" Sam asked as he looked at Dean in sudden interest.

"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be... Joe College." Dean murmured and Sam shook his head in disagreement.

"No, that's ok. You know, the truth is: even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in." Sam admitted, I leant forward in my seat and rested my hand on Sam's headrest.

"Well Sammy, that's because you're a freak." I smiled, Dean laughed and Sam chuckled lightly.

"Well, thanks, Steph." He smiled and I smiled back.

"Well, don't worry because-."

"Let me guess:because you're a freak too?" Sam turned around and looked at me, and I frowned in confusion.

"What? No. Don't worry because Dean's a freak too, I'm just right with you all the way, the only normal one here." I told him, Sam laughed whilst Dean glanced up and looked at me in the rear view mirror.

"Wait, so the girl with all the magic turns out _not _to be the freak of the group?" Dean asked and I nodded.

"Yep." I confrmed, Dean sighed whilst Sam smiled at me.

"You know, I gotta say – I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it." Dean sighed regretfully, I frowned and looked at him in confusion.

"Miss what?" I asked, tilting my head at the older Winchester curiously.

"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" Dean asked rhetorically,Sam scoffed and I rolled my eyes, hitting Dean playfully on the shoulder.

"Just drive, you freak."

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for your reviews! 10 days until the final ever Skulduggery Pleasant book comes out! I think I'm gonna update on... the 32****nd**** review, so please review if you want the next installment.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews, I absolutely ADORE all your feedback, 9 days until the final Skulduggery Pleasant book guys! (Started writing this chapter on the 19th) OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD I really wished I was invited to the event on the 28****th**** in London, but I've already met our great Golden God before so I guess it's only fair. Ok, enough ranting, time for the story...**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 7 – Hook Man

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean and I were sat in an outside café enjoying the beautiful weather and drinking coffee, Dean was busy tapping away on Sam's laptop, whilst Sam himself was on a payphone. Dean looked up from his laptop and frowned at his brother, "Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis." Dean called teasingly over to him, Sam rolled his eyes as he walked back over to us.

"Bite me." He sharply retorted as he sat down at our table.

"So, anything?" I asked him as he took a sip of his drink.

"I had them check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank," Sam shook his head in disappointment, "No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."

"Sam, I'm tellin' ya: I don't think Dad wants to be found." Dean told him, Sam nodded glumly and Dean spun the laptop round so it faced us, "Check this out, guys. It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here." Dean continued as we read the news article, it described the mysterious death of a frat boy who was taken from his car whilst with his girlfriend and hung from the tree above it, the girlfriend described the attacker to be an invisible man.

"'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road'.'" Sam read out a section aloud, Dean nodded.

"Keep reading." He said, I gave up and decided to just listen.

"'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of a killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.'" Sam continued, and I frowned and looked at Dean.

"It could be something interesting." I offered.

"Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man." Sam replied, and I frowned.

"I know that." I told him with narrowed eyes.

"Steph's right: what if it is? Dad would check it out." Dean cut in, sensing a disagreement occurring. Sam looked at me and Dean before he caved.

"Ok, fine." He sighed.

We pulled up outside a fraternity where the victim, Rich lived, the frat boys looked confused as the three of us got out the car. "One more time, why are we here?" Sam asked as we walked over to the large building.

"The victim lived here." I answered as Dean walked up to two guys fixing their car.

"Nice wheels," Dean commented, the two boys stared at Dean in shock, "We're your fraternity brother from Ohio. We're new in town – transfers, looking for a place to stay." He explained with a grin.

We walked up to the dorm room of the fraternity, the boys stared at Dean and Sam and then gawked at me, I tried not to catch any of their eyes as we walked down the hall and finally reached the door, I pushed it open and glimpsed the boy inside and jumped back, Sam and Dean looked at me in alarm. "What is it? What's wrong?" Sam asked as Dean pushed the door open.

"It's fine, Steph, you can come on in." Dean called, I made a face as Sam lightly shoved me through the door. A boy with shaggy dark hair was stood with his shirt off, he was holding a tin of purple paint and was busy colouring his face and torso with it.

"Uh, hey – hi there." The boy stuttered, staring at me wide eyed in the mirror. I rolled my eyes at Dean as I sat next to him on the bed, he chuckled in response.

"So, who are you guys again?" The boy asked.

"We're your new roommates, this is my, uh, my girlfriend, Stephanie." Dean replied with a grin, putting his arm around my shoulders, I narrowed my eyes at him as Sam walked over to the boy to shake his hand, but the boy held out the paint pot and brush.

"Do me a favour? Get my back, big game today." He asked.

"Go on Sam, you _are _the artist, after all." Dean gave his brother a look and then glanced at the boy, "The things he can do with a brush." He told the boy, a knowing grin spreading on his features, I giggled as I glimpsed Sam's mortified expression as he reluctantly took the brush and can. "So, is it true?" Dean asked, as Sam painstakingly painted the boy's back.

"What?" He asked, a confused expression forming on the boy's face.

"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week." I supplied, the boy nodded, a disconsolate expression clouding his eyes.

"Yeah." He nodded sadly.

"What happened?" Dean questioned.

"They're saying some psycho with a knife, maybe a drifter passing through... Rich was a good guy." The boy sighed sadly.

"Rich, he was with somebody?" Sam asked as he moved the paintbrush in painstakingly slow strokes down the boy's back.

"Not just somebody," The boy scoffed, "Lori Sorenson." He pronounced the girl's name slowly and loudly, like he was pronouncing something sacred.

"Who's Lori Sorenson?" Dean asked the boy.

"You missed a spot, just down there." I pointed to the boy's back, Sam glared at me and I smiled as Dean chuckled beside me.

"That's my girl," He grinned and then looked at the boy for his answer.

"Lori's a freshman, she's a local. Super hot. And get this: she's the reverend's daughter." The boy explained in an excited tone.

"What? A reverend's daughter? What's so great about that?" I asked, looking at Dean confusedly.

"Uh, it's a guy thing, Steph," He rolled his eyes at me before looking back at the frat boy, "Do you happen to know which church?" He asked.

We entered the local church and the door slammed behind us, the church was full of local people and I realised we had just walked in a service for Rich, the congregation turned and looked at us and I cleared my throat awkwardly, pushing Sam towards an empty row at the back of church. "The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings," The reverend continued, my eyes wandered, bored. I noticed Sam smiling weakly at someone and looked forward to see a girl staring at the youngest Winchester, "So please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children." The reverend finished in a sombre tone, I looked at the stained glass windows and started wondering why they had in every church a figure of Jesus strung up on the cross, I mean, children came to church and I just thought it was sending a bad message to them if they had to look at a dead man every week. Sam elbowed me sharply and I glanced at him, he and Dean nodded their heads to all the other patrons who had their heads bowed in a prayer and quickly copied them. Dean snickered and hastily turned it to a cough when the reverend sent a sharp glare at him.

When the mass ended the three of us waited until Lori's friend had finished talking with her until we walked over to her, "I don't know why all the boys are falling over for her - she's not even that pretty." I muttered as we drew nearer to the girl. Dean smiled slightly but it faded as we stopped in front of her.

"Are you Lori?" Sam asked the girl in a kind tone.

"Yeah." She smiled sweetly, she had shoulder-length light brown hair that was in slight waves, with bright green eyes and a splash of freckles over her face.

"My name is Sam, this is Dean and that's Stephanie." He greeted, pointing to each of us in turn.

"Hi." Dean said to the girl, I merely smiled at her kindly.

"We just transferred here to the university." Sam explained.

"I saw you inside." Lori nodded.

"We don't wanna bother you, we just heard what happened and-."

"We wanted to say how sorry we were." I cut Sam off, keeping the sympathies short.

"I kind of know what you're going through. I – I saw someone... get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Sam explained, tripping over his words, Lori nodded slowly in understanding as the reverend walked up to us.

"Dad. Um, this is Sam, Dean and Stephanie, they're new students." Lori explained as Dean shook the reverend's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say: that was an inspiring sermon." Dean expressed in fake admiration, the man smiled as he withdrew his hand, "Me and my girlfriend, we absolutely love the comforting words of God." Dean continued, his arm wrapping around my waist, I faked a big smile and nodded.

"Thank you both very much, it's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message." The reverend replied.

"Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually," I explained as Dean and I led the reverend away from Sam and his daughter, "And, uh, we're looking for a new, um, church group." I explained, the reverend nodded in understanding.

"I see, well in our church we have groups that are aimed towards young people, couples who are planning to abstain until marriage..." He trailed off when Dean and I exchanged a look, "Oh, have you two already... 'done it'?" The reverend asked, there was a shocked silence until I shook my head quickly.

"No, no. Uh, we're just looking for a young people's service." Dean chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, at home I have some pamphlets that go into depth about the different groups that we have for couples and people like yourselves, if you'd like to visit I can tell you some more about it." The reverend offered, I looked back and saw Sam waiting for us and then looked at the reverend.

"Well that sounds great, but first I think we need to get settled in at the fraternity first, it was lovely to meet you, reverend." I smiled politely before leading Dean away, as soon as the reverend's back was turned I took Dean's arm off of me, Sam smirked as we approached.

"Having fun?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Why couldn't I have been your sister?" I moaned and Sam shrugged.

"Age, mainly. Also it was Dean's idea." He grinned and I sighed.

"So, where to next?"

"So you believe her?" Dean asked his brother, we were sat in the local library pouring other urban legend books.

"I do." Sam nodded.

"Yeah, I think she's hot too." Dean agreed, and I frowned, "What?" He asked, catching my look.

"She's not that pretty, guys, I don't get it." I replied, Dean smiled and shook his head.

"Like we said before, Steph, it's a guy thing." He chuckled and I frowned again.

"As I was saying, there's something in here eyes. And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof, found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car." Sam told us, beside me Dean tilted his head.

"Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like-."

"Yeah, I know," Sam nodded, cutting his brother off, "The Hook Man legend."

"Wait... _the _Hook Man legend?" I asked a little doubtfully.

"Yeah, it's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think we're dealing with the Hook Man?" He asked his brother.

"Yeah, maybe." Sam shrugged, "Every legend has a source: a place where it all began." He supplied.

"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" I replied.

"Well, maybe the Hook man isn't a man at all – what if it's some kind of spirit?" Dean wondered.

"Here you go, arrest records going back to 1851." The librarian smiled as she handed the very large, very dusty box to Dean, he blew of the dust and coughed.

"Thanks." He spluttered as the librarian walked away, he looked at the mass of books in the box and made a face, "So, this is how you spent four years of your life, huh?" He looked at Sam and he nodded.

"How did you live?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Welcome to higher education, guys." Sam smiled in response and gave us both a stack of books.

I checked the clock and sighed irritably: we had been at our researching for three hours and I was getting bored. I sighed and started humming the Rolling Stones and Dean looked up and grinned, "Let me down slow?" He asked and I tilted my head.

"You know that one?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, _A Bigger Bang _is one of my favourite albums." Dean grinned again and I nodded, Sam cleared his throat and I jumped and looked over to him.

"Hey, check this out: 1862, a preacher names Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed thirteen prostitutes. Uh, right here, 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh.'" Sam read an excerpt from the book he was reading, I nodded and flicked back through the book I was reading.

"And get this: the murder weapon? The preacher lost his hand in an accident, had it replaced with a silver hook, sound familiar?" I asked, pointing to an old photograph. Sam nodded and pointed to the next paragraph down.

"Look where this all happened." He said and Dean read over my shoulder.

"Nine mile road." Dean nods and I frowned.

"Why does that sound like I've heard it before?" I asked.

"It's the same place where the frat boy was killed." Sam answered and I nodded.

"Nice job, Doctor Venkman. Let's check it out." Dean got out of his seat and I followed, leaving Sam to gather up all the research.

The nine mile road was everything I expected: it was the typically creepy, rundown single road that had a dead end, surrounded by dark woods in the middle of nowhere, so if you screamed for help you wouldn't be heard. As we got out the car Dean went straight to the trunk and threw Sam a rifle. "Here you go." Dean said as Sam caught the rifle and looked at it.

"If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good." Sam answered, doubt lacing his tone, Dean nodded.

"Yeah," The older brother agreed and handed Sam a small pouch, "Rock salt." He explained, anticipating Sam's next question.

"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent." Sam looked at the pouch whilst Dean reached into the trunk and pulled out a thick coil of rope.

"Yeah, it won't kill them but it'll slow them down." Dean told him as we started walking towards the dark trees.

"That's pretty good," Sam complimented as he started loading the rifle, "You and Dad think of this?" He asked.

"I told you – you don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius." Dean smirked haughtily and I rolled my eyes and scoffed, opening my mouth to suddenly insult the older Winchester, but a rustling noise from the trees made us look up, suddenly alert. Sam raised his gun and looked around warily, I discreetly moved my palms and felt the air shift to my left.

"Over there, over there." I whispered, Sam nodded and cocked his gun, ready to aim and fire. A figure emerged from the woods with a gun of his own, I looked at his other hand and saw that it _was _a hand, not a silver hook. I sighed in relief: we were safe.

"Put the gun down! Now! Put your hands behind your head!" A sheriff ordered, training the gun on us, Dean jumped in shock and I sighed: scratch that last thought.

"W-wait, okay, okay!" Dean shouted back as the three of us slowly raised our hands and placed them behind our heads.

"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees!" The sheriff ordered, pointing his gun harder at the three of us, we complied obediently and knelt down, our hands still behind our heads. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!" He shouted, beside me Dean scoffed in objection.

"He had the gun!" Dean protested as we layed down on the cold, hard floor.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that we fuc-."

"Keep quiet!" The sheriff ordered me, I looked up at him and frowned.

"What? I can't say one thing? This is bul-."

"I said keep quiet!" The sheriff snapped and I sighed, beside me Dean snickered and I glared at him through the dark.

It was daylight when we exited the sheriff's department, Sam fought down a yawn as we went down the steps that led to the main street, "Saved your ass! Talked that sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock." Dean chortled to his brother.

"But how?" Sam asked tiredly.

"I told him that you were a dumbass pledge and that me and Steph were hazing." He answered, I smiled sleepily.

"What about the rifle?" I asked him.

"I said that Sam was hunting hosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt. You know – typical Hell Week prank." Dean laughed.

"And he believed you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, look at him: he _looks_ like a dumbass pledge." Dean smirked at his brother, Sam rolled his eyes and I laughed. Several sheriffs suddenly burst out from the building and we turned, the men all got into their police cars and sped off, sirens and lights blaring loudly. I looked at Dean and Sam in alarm and we all nodded and got into the car quickly, speeding off after the convoy of police cars.

The police cars had been called to Lori's sorority building, when we pulled up we saw Lori huddled up in a blanket in the back of an ambulance. The three of us surveyed the scene for a moment before I looked at the two boys, "It'll look suspicious if we just waltz over to them." I pointed out, they both nodded and Dean started the engine again, taking us around to the back of the building, we got out and started to walk over to the back entrance, thanking the Gods that no police had decided to patrol around here.

"I don't get it: why would the Hook Man come here? This is a long way from the nine mile road." Sam observed as we neared the building.

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime, maybe it's about something else." Dean suggested, the air shifted and I shoved the two boys to the left behind some nearby bushes, diving in after them just as two officers exit the building, a small group of sorority girls followed them, chatting in hushed tones and giggling amongst themselves. "Guys, sorority girls! Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?" Dean asked us excitedly, I rolled my eyes and scoffed, following Sam as he led us to a fence leading to a first floor balcony, he climbed up and turned and reached his hand out to me, but I shook my head. Splaying my hands and concentrating, smiling when I felt the air connect beneath my palms, I applied a slight pressure and launched upwards, grabbing the edge of the balcony and slipping over quietly, I looked down at the boys smiling at the looks of awe they had on their faces.

"Come on." I told them, leaning over and reaching for Sam's hand, he took it and I hauled him over the ledge, then Dean. Once Dean was stood with us I turned to see Sam prising open the window and slipping in, I followed him silently and smiled once we were inside: no one had noticed us. Something collided with me and I slipped and sprawled with Dean on the bathroom floor, he smirked as I laid on top of him.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events." He grinned, I rolled my eyes and scoffed as I rolled off of him and stood up, Dean stood up and held his hands up in innocence, "What?" He asked.

"Be quiet." I shushed him irritably.

"You be quiet!" He retorted.

"You be quiet!" I retaliated childishly.

"Guys, shut _up_!" Sam silenced us as he peeked through a slit in the door, we stayed quiet and listened out for anything, after Sam was sure it was clear he opened the door and walked inside, Dean and I following sullenly. I instantly looked up when my ring on my finger turned cold, signifying a death. The bed on the far side of the bedroom was taped off, crimson stained the once-perfect sheets and a puddle was quickly drying on the carpet, on the nearby wall **AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU DIDN'T TURN ON THE LIGHT? **Was scratched into it, the blade that had written had clearly been covered in blood, it had slowly dripped from the letters and dried in various places. "'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?' That's right out of the legend." Sam observed.

"Yeah, that's classic Hook Man alright," Dean said, tapping his nose knowingly, "It's definitely a spirit."

"Yeah." I agreed quietly, staring at the symbol under the sinister message with a frown: I swear I had seen that symbol somewhere. Sam walked over and stood beside me, "Is it just me, or is that something I've seen before?" I asked him, pointing to the symbol underneath the bloody words.

"Hmmm..." Sam frowned and tilted his head as he stared at the symbol.

We left the room after the quick inspection, the bloody images still burned into my mind. We were stood next to Dean's car whilst Sam poured over his research on the bonnet, "Found it." The younger Winchester suddenly said, I turned to see him holding up a picture of Jacob Karns' silver hook, a symbol was carved onto the thickest part of the blade, matching the symbol on the wall.

"It's the same symbol," I nodded in confirmation, "Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns."

"Alright, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones and put him down." Dean sighed, clapping his hands together.

"'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave.'" Sam read, his face fell as he looked up from the excerpt he was reading.

"Super." I said, using as much sarcasm as I could muster.

"Ok. So we know it's Jacob Karns, but we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why." Sam replied, I yawned and stretched as we got in the car.

"I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this." Dean shrugged as he started the car engine.

In Lori's sorority, there was a 'Farewell Taylor' college party being held in honour of the girl's memory, Dean was grinning as we walked through to the main room of the party, looking at all the drunken girl giggling loudly. "Man, you've been holding out on me, this college thing is awesome!" Dean exclaimed, winking at a passing girl.

"This wasn't really my experience." Sam hedged, looking around a little uncomfortably at the party-goers.

"Really? What was it like?" I asked him in shock.

"Let me guess: libraries, studying, straight A's?" Dean piped up, Sam nodded and Dean sighed sadly, "What a geek," He huffed, "Alright, you do your homework?" He asked and Sam nodded.

"Yeah. It was bugging me, right? So, how is the Hook Man tied up with Lori?" He asked rhetorically, "I think I came up with something." He continued, bring out a folded piece of scrap paper and gave it to me.

"'1932: clergyman arrested for murder. 1967: seminarian held in hippie rampage.'" I read it aloud.

"There's a pattern here, in both cases – the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force, killings carried out – get this – with a sharp instrument." Sam explained and I tilted my head.

"What's the connection to Lori?" I asked.

"A man of religion? Who preaches openly against immorality?" He answered, I nodded slowly, beginning to understand, "Except maybe this time, instead of saving the whole town, he's just trying to save his only daughter?" He questioned.

"Reverend Sorensen. You think he's summoning the spirit?" Dean called out over the loud music.

"Maybe. Or, you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a human instead of a place?" Sam responded.

"No, but now I do." I smiled.

"The spirit latches onto the reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them? Yeah, ok." Dean nodded slowly in agreement.

"Without the reverend even knowing it." Sam finalised.

"Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight." Dean told him, Sam nodded and then looked at the two of us.

"What about you two?" Sam asked, Dean sighed sadly as he caught eyes with an attractive blonde stood next to the pool table then he looked back at us.

"Me and Steph are gonna go see if we can find that unmarked grave." He answered, tugging at my arm and pulling me out of the house, I waved to Sam before allowing myself to be taken to the car.

It was cold in Old North Cemetery, but I didn't mind: the amount of death that lingered in cemetery's turned my ring to ice, giving my a rush of power as I imagined the damage I could do with my necromancy if I used it here, instead my hands were full of dancing flames as I walked next to Dean, who was armed with a torch and two shovels. More than once I saw Dean glance at the flames in my hands, on the third glance I decided to ask him, "What?"

"What?" Dean asked, looking at me in confusion.

"You keep staring at my hands, what's wrong with them?" I asked again.

"It's nothing, it's just..." Dean sighed heavily before speaking, "These powers and this, this end of the world thing that you have going on: does it ever scare you? You always seem so... calm about it." Dean observed, I stopped walking and stared at the rows of gravestones, Dean shone his torch beam up into my face, concerned. "Steph?"

"It does." I nodded once, my voice uncharacteristically quiet.

"It does what?" Dean asked.

"Scare me. It, it terrifies me. People have seen visions of me destroying the world, Dean. _I've _seen visions of me destroying the world. Do you have any idea what that's like?" I asked him, my eyes still fixed on the headstones.

"Listen, Steph. I know we've only known eachother for several weeks, but you just don't seem like the type of girl who's gonna end mankind as we know it." Dean gave me a small smile.

"I'm offended!" I joked, putting a hand over my heart mockingly, "No, but Dean, seriously. I like to think that she's not here, maybe she doesn't exist in this world... so maybe she won't destroy it." I smiled weakly at the theory, Dean stared at me for a moment before he shrugged.

"You could be right, Steph. But what if she does appear?" He asked, I stayed silent for a few moments before answering.

"Then, I want you to kill me." I told him quietly, looking away from him.

"What? You can't be serious, Steph." Dean exclaimed, I looked up and nodded slowly.

"If I hurt anyone, like you or Sam... Then I'd want to kill myself. So do me a favour." I responded.

"That's ridiculous!" He spluttered, shining the torch beam in my face, "I'm not going to kill you, Steph. She's not going to... take you over or whatever. I won't let her." He told me firmly, I stared into his determined dark eyes, wishing I could agree with him... but I wasn't foolish: Darquesse was a part of me, she _will be _me. Instead I nodded at him and he smiled, "Good, now lets go find this grave." I nodded and let the flames in my hand grew bigger, illuminating the old headstones, after a few more steps and Dean pointed at a headstone a little way away from the others. "There." I walked over to it and saw that the headstone was engraved with a cross.

"Unmarked grave." I murmured, running my hand over the rough, stone surface.

"Here we go." Dean responded as he walked over, throwing me a shovel and readying his in his hands.

We had been digging at the grave for the best of two hours, Dean suddenly stopped and looked over to me, "Isn't there a... spell or something, for, I dunno, moving earth?" Dean huffed, I edged a smile as I threw another shovel of dirt from the grave and then paused, leaning on the shovel.

"Earth is mainly a defence mechanism, you can use the earth to turn to stone – because what can kill a stone?" I explained, Dean shrugged and I nodded before continuing, "Because of that, I haven't really practised Earth that much, so no, there isn't." Dean sighed heavily and looked at the large mound of soil we had dug up and he shook his head annoyedly.

"That's it. Next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house." He moaned and began digging again, I laughed as Dean threw a mound of dirt over his shoulder angrily, when Dean put his shovel down again he hit something hard. I stopped laughing and crouched down, using the air to move the loose bits of earth to reveal an old, wooden coffin. I stood up and backed away, looking at Dean expectantly, he sagged and I smiled sweetly at him as he aimed the shovel over the coffin, in one clean strike the wood split and collapsed on itself, dust flew outwards and Dean leaned back to avoid it. After the dust cloud had cleared we peered in and saw the remains of what was I assumed Jacob Karns.

"Hello, preacher." I grinned, throwing my shovel aside and looking at Dean, he had taken his rucksack from his back and was busy rifling through it, he pulled out some lighter fluid and table salt and handed them to me, I looked at them dubiously as Dean zipped up the rucksack.

"Right, pour salt over the stiff." Dean told me, I shot his an odd look but complied, opening the shaker and poured the substance over the bones. Once it was done I handed the shaker back to Dean, he took it and then nodded to the lighter fluid. "Now douse the fluid on it." He said, I complied and practically emptied the fluid over the body and stepped back.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Set it alight." He answered, climbing out of the hole, I grinned moved my palms out the air rushing and letting me up out of the hole, my feet landing on the ground effortlessly. I looked over to Dean and saw him glaring at me, I smiled smugly in response and snapped my fingers, conjuring a flame and letting it sit in my palm for moment. I moved my hand above it, ready to drop the flame onto it, Dean's hand suddenly grabbed my arm and I stiffened and looked at him, but his gaze was on the body.

"Goodbye preacher." He smirked and I rolled my eyes and dropped the flame, it enveloped the body almost instantly and we sighed as we watched the fire spread hungrily over the man's dusty clothes and old bones.

Dean and I rushed through the hospital searching for Sam, making our way past the patients and staff. We collided with two sheriffs as we rounded a corner, a little way down the hall we saw Sam with an officer. "We're sorry, but we can't let you pass this is a forbidden area as an investigation is underway." One of the officers told us, his colleague nodded and I pulled a face.

"No, come on we're with him," I pointed to Sam's tall figure, "He's his brother." I explained, nodding to Dean.

"Hey! Brother!" Dean smiled and called to Sam, he and the sheriff turned to Dean smiling and waving at him, the two officers glanced at eachother suspiciously.

"Let them through." The sheriff ordered and the two officers reluctantly let us pass, I smiled at them as we passed by them.

"Thank you." I called back to them as we walked over to Sam.

"You ok?" Dean asked his little brother in concern.

"Yeah." Sam nodded half-heartedly and I frowned as I recognised the reverend in the nearest patient room.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, my eyes still fixed on the reverend's unconscious form.

"Hook Man." Sam answered, using the name as if it was an epithet.

"You saw him?" Dean asked in surprise.

"Damn right. Why didn't you two torch the bones?" Sam looked at us in annoyance and the two of us frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about, we did." Dean answered in an equally annoyed tone.

"Are you sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" I asked, suddenly worried at the prospect of researching for another suspect that fit the description.

"It sure as hell looked like him, and that's not all -," Sam looked around before continuing, "I don't think the spirit is latching onto the reverend." Sam whispered.

"Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself." Dean replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman." Sam explained, ignoring Dean's last comment.

"So what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"So she's upset about it," Sam shrugged, turning to me, "She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished."

"Well ok, so she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?" Dean suggested and Sam nodded.

"Right," He agreed, and I suddenly realised it, putting the pieces together.

"Rich comes on too strong..." I murmured.

"Taylor tries to make her into a party girl..." Dean added.

"Dad has an affair." Sam concluded.

"Remind me not to piss this girl off," Dean muttered and I smiled, "But I don't get it – me and Steph burned those bones, we buried them in salt, why didn't that stop him?" He asked.

"You must have missed something." Sam shrugged and I frowned.

"No way, we burnt everything in that coffin." I argued.

"Did you get the hook?" Sam asked me and I opened my mouth to answer and then closed it abruptly.

"The hook?" Dean asked, taking over.

"Well, it was the murder weapon," Sam reasoned, "And in a way, it was part of him."

"So, like the bones: the hook is a source of his power." I realised.

"If we find the hook..." Sam speculated.

"We stop the Hook Man." Dean finished and I grinned.

"Right. Simple." I stated smugly.

"We're gonna have to do some more research." Sam shook his head at me and my grin dropped and my shoulders sagged.

"Oh for fuc-." I started to say, but Dean clamped a hand over my mouth and smiled politely at a passing mother with her two kids.

I blinked my sore eyes slowly, we had been in the library for hours combing over old scripts and papers, anything that related to Hook Man. "All this reading is gonna make my head explode." I groaned, putting the book down and rubbing my eyes.

"You've said that." Sam told me without looking up from the book he was reading.

"Twice." Dean piped up, I looked over to him and he grinned, making me smile and roll my eyes.

"Well, you should listen to me." I pretended to whine, Dean started chuckling and I looked over to him again.

"What's so funny?" I asked him irritably.

"I just imagined what you'd be like if you were in college for real, and you had to do this every day." Dean managed through chuckles, I frowned and he laughed harder, even Sam started sniggering.

"You know all I have to do is move my hands and you'd be halfway across the room, right?" I asked him with narrowed eyes, Dean stopped laughing and sent me one of his more charming smiles.

"Oh honey, I know you wouldn't do that." He smirked, his eyes brimming with arrogance, I raised an eyebrow and discreetly moved my hand, pushing against the air currents and aiming it at Dean's chair. The seat shot backwards and Dean sprawled to the ground, Sam roared with laughter and I joined in with him, chortling as Dean dragged his chair back over and sat sulking.

"So here's something, I think: log book, Iowa State Penitentiary. Karns, Jacob, personal affects: disposition thereof." Sam read from the book he was reading.

"Does it mention the hook?" I asked, leaning over and looking at where he was reading.

"Yeah, maybe: 'Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church.'" Sam continued to read the paragraph as Dean walked over to our Sam and I's table.

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" He asked, looking over Sam's shoulder.

"Yeah." Sam murmured and I looked up from the book at them.

"Where Lori lives?" I questioned as Sam closed the books.

"Maybe that's why Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past two hundred years." Dean shrugged as Sam stood up from his chair, he moved away from his brother and walked over to where his coat had been discarded carelessly.

"Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it? I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?" Sam smiled in his disbelief at the theory, Dean shrugged and made a face as he shrugged on the coat.

"Check the church records." He suggested and walked away, I frowned and looked at him in confusion.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Well, whilst Sammy goes to get the books, I thought I'd go get some fresh air and stretch my legs a little, you know?" Dean answered, my mouth dropped and I stood up from my chair quickly.

"I'm coming with you." I told him and he laughed.

"Really? 'Cause I thought you were loving it in here _so _much." He smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up." I muttered half-heartedly as we left the library, I practically ran to the railing and sighed as the fresh air entered my lungs, leaning against the railing and looking out at the campus scenery. I shivered slightly at the night air and scolded myself for not bringing a coat, out of the corner of my eye I saw Dean leaning against the barrier and looking at me. "What is it now?" I asked him with a small smile, Dean shook his head and shrugged in response.

"It's nothing... it's just... you really love the fresh air." Dean answered, I turned to face him and gave him an amused look.

"Yeah, because if you hadn't noticed," I leaned in like I was telling him a secret, "Fresh air's better than stale air." I whispered and giggled at his expression.

"No, that's not what I... never mind." Dean sighed and shook his head, looking at the random sculptures that had been put on the grass areas by art students, one of them was labelled as a volcano, but to me it looked like a metal carrot.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I just can't imagine you behind a desk, or in a library doing normal work." Dean shrugged.

"It's because I've never done any normal work, and I don't intend to. Ever." I told him, shivering slightly in the cold and shivered again, looking up at the clear night sky and the glittering stars, I felt a weight around my shoulders and looked to see Dean draping his coat around me, I stared at him as he returned to his position leaning against the railing. "Thank you." I told him quietly, and he grunted.

"Don't mention it." He shrugged and I found myself smiling uncontrollably at him.

"So, have you ever done anything else besides hunting?" I asked him, Dean stared out at something before he looked at me.

"No, not really. When my Mum died my Dad was... _obsessed _with teaching us how to protect ourselves against the supernatural." Dean shook his head.

"How old were you when she died?"

"I was, uh, four. Sammy was only a few months." Dean responded in a sad, mournful tone, and I realised I was seeing a side to Dean Winchester that never surfaces.

"How'd she die?" I asked, my hand reaching out and finding his arm.

"A demon killed her." He answered shortly.

"I'm sorry." I told him sadly and he shrugged nonchalantly, the soft, open Dean going away, and the arrogant, joking older brother coming back.

"It's fine, it was a long time ago." Dean muttered.

"Not long enough, you miss her." I observed quietly, Dean stiffened and looked at me, his expression unreadable.

"Yeah, I do..." Dean sighed and I looked away, the emotions overwhelming me, "What about you, you got shoved into this, uh, reality. You must have people who you miss." Dean shrugged and it was my turn to tense up, names began rolling around in my head and I closed my eyes against it all. "Steph?" Dean's voice broke through my nostalgic thoughts and I opened my eyes and looked at him sadly.

"Everyone." I whispered, my voice cracking, I looked down at the ground as tears slid from my eyes, as if sensing my sudden raw emotion, my hair fell and curtained my face. Dean's hand brushed the hair out of my face and I smiled weakly at him, "I'm sorry – I don't normally cry like this." I jerked away from him, as if I was stung and turned away, brushing the tears from my cheeks and taking a deep breath.

"You're seriously apologising for crying? Steph, it's ok to cry." Dean laughed when I turned back to him, I shook my head at him.

"No it's not."

"Huh?" He asked, confused.

"It's not ok, Dean. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back home, and that means I'll never see my friends or my family again..." I trailed off as my words died into the night air, I took a shuddering breath and shook my head, trying to shake the emotion. "We should get back to Sam." I muttered and walked back through the doors to where Sam was sat pouring over a book, he didn't look up as I approached but tapped the page excitedly as I sat down.

"I found it," He said excitedly, I forced a smile on my face as he glanced up at me and then back at the text, "'St. Barnabas donations, 1862: received silver handled hook from state penitentiary.'" Sam's face fell and he stopped reading for a moment, then he sighed.

"What? What is it?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"It says they reforged it, melted it down and made it into something else." Sam answered disappointedly, I groaned and rested my head on the table.

"Great. Just great."

Dean was still outside when Sam and I left the library, when Sam told him what he'd found he had nodded, not commented on the subject and we had driven in silence to the church, I caught Sam's eye in the rear view mirror but he hadn't said anything. I knew he knew that something had happened outside, but he didn't bring it up, sensing the unbalanced emotions between Dean and I – Sam was good like that. Once Dean had parked the car the three of us got out silently and stared at the towering structure of the house of God. "Alright, we can't take any chances," Dean told us as he threw me a gun and loaded his, Sam bought out his gun and checked it, "Anything silver goes in the fire."

"Sounds good, Lori's still in hospital so we'll have to break in." Sam replied.

"It's not like anyone here hasn't broken into anything before." I shrugged, Dean smiled slightly at the comment and then pointed to the church and the small house beside it.

"Alright, take your pick." He looked over to Sam.

"I'll take the house." Sam answered and began walking over to the house.

"Ok... Hey," Dean called out to his younger brother, he turned and looked at Dean expectantly, "Stay out of her underwear drawer." Dean grinned mischievously and Sam rolled his eyes and huffed. I smiled at their antics and then Dean turned to me, "So, ladies first." He smiled and motioned for me to go first, I passed and walked up to the church, looking for the easiest way in. The front door was heavy iron and securely locked from the inside, so we'd have to find an alternative route. I scanned the brickwork and a windowless arch on the side of the building caught my eye, I pointed to it and looked at Dean.

"That's our way in." I told him, Dean looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"You're kidding me, right?" He scoffed and I frowned.

"There's really nothing to joke about, we're about to break into a church." I told him.

"Well, do you have a ladder on you?" Dean asked and I smirked.

"No, hold still," I told him, Dean frowned but stood still all the same, I manipulated the air so he shot up, he grabbed onto the sill of the archway and hauled himself over the edge. Once he was clear I stood still and concentrated feeling the air currents beneath my palms, I snapped them out and propelled up to the arch, grabbing the edge and climbing up. Dean was stood waiting for me as I came over the window, I took the gun out of my pocket and checked it for salt rounds, I looked around and saw we were in the underloft of the church, old tables and chairs lay discarded and dust-covered in the corner, but the loft was otherwise empty.

"Ready, Buffy?" Dean asked in a sarcastic tone, I nodded and rolled my eyes at his comment.

"Let's go." I told him, and we descended the dark stone steps leading down into the ground floor of the church, once we reached the main hall I clicked my fingers and a flame lit up in my palm, I concentrated and it got bigger and kept me warm.

"Right, I'll take the left side, you take the right." Dean pointed to the far side of the church and I nodded, I swept down the cabinets and wooden tables, taking the candlesticks and small silver crosses that were placed evenly up and down the walls, I met Dean at the locked iron door of the entrance to the church, he held out a sack and I threw the silverware into it. After that Dean went downstairs and I unbolted the door so Sam could unlock it. I found Dean in the underloft, he had found a metal cylinder and was busy putting broken parts of a chair into it, he then doused it in lighter fluid and motioned for me to set it alight, I dropped the flame and the wood erupted into flames, Dean started throwing the silver into the bin and he stood back and admired his handiwork. There were heavy steps on the steps and we turned to see Sam entering the room with a bag, he sighed as he put the bag heavily on the floor, the contents inside clattered together.

"I got everything that looked silver." Sam told us as I picked up the bag and gave it to Dean, he then proceeded to dump everything on the roaring flames.

"Well, better safe than sorry, I suppose." I murmured as the three of us watched the silver slowly melt into the flames. I tilted my head when I felt something shift against my palm and looked down, someone was moving around downstairs. "Move." I told them in hushed urgency, the two boys frowned in confusion, I sighed and pointed to my ears and then to the floor. We fell silent as we listened for something, downstairs someone was moving what sounded like the long benches where people sat. I looked at Dean in alarm: that was our only exit.

"The window, go." Dean told us, pointing to the open arch, I walked over to it and peered down, I was confident I would make the fall, but I seriously doubted Dean and Sam would. Sam joined me and looked down and gulped.

"We'll never make that, guys." Sam shook his head, his eyes wide.

"Yeah we can, do you remember when we were going down that ladder in the sewer to find the shapeshifter, and Steph jumped off and fell? She said she channelled the air to slow her fall. She used the air to get me up here, she can use the air to get me down." Dean explained, my own eyes widened at the pressure the oldest Winchester had suddenly put me under.

"Can you do that?" Sam asked me in awe, I looked at his big, imploring eyes and sagged.

"I – I guess... but aren't you worried I'll let you drop?" I asked them, Dean and Sam exchanged a look and shook their heads.

"Nope," Dean shrugged, "You can do it." We looked around at the sound of someone nearing the door to the attic, Dean whipped around and pushed me lightly towards the arch, "No time, we gotta go now." He told me.

"Alright, alright. I'm going, geez." I rolled my eyes and hooked my left leg over, with one last grin I slipped out and fell, the dark ground rushed up to meet me and I smiled at the sheer thrill of falling, I moved my hands out and I suddenly started slowing, landing in a roll and coming up smoothly. I looked up to see the two boys, now tiny figures, looking out of the window down at me. I saw the taller figure of Sam slowly perch himself on the edge of the sill, he looked back at Dean and I smiled slightly when I saw Dean shake his shoulders jokingly, after another few seconds Sam let himself drop I walked forward and concentrated on him, when he drew closer to the ground I moved my palms, manipulating the air so his descent slowed. Sam's feet lightly touched the ground and he staggered back in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open, I tried hard not to laugh at his expression but failed. He blinked at the sound of me giggling and his mouth closed, "Was it fun?" I asked him with a small smile.

"Terrifying." His voice shook and I laughed, stepping back and looking up at Dean, he too was now perched on the sill, ready to jump. After what seemed a few moments of deep thought, Dean's arms reached down and he pushed himself off, hurtling towards us at an alarming speed, I moved my hands out and steadied his descent, as he was no more than five feet off the ground I suddenly dropped my hands and Dean plummeted to the ground, he groaned and slowly got to his feet, Sam was grinning wildly as he fought to stifle his laughter. I smiled sweetly as Dean glared at me.

"That," He growled, "Was not funny."

"You should have seen your face!" Sam collapsed with peals of laughter, I giggled along with him.

"Whatever." Dean huffed and stormed off back to the car, Sam and I followed, still giggling amongst ourselves, as Dean was getting back in the car I looked back at the church, to my surprise I saw that the large iron door was wide open, I glimpsed the back of a familiar head inside sitting in one of the pews. I walked over to the church and up the stone steps, someone came rushing up behind me and grabbed my shoulders, I whipped around and saw Sam looking at me fearfully.

"Uh, Steph," He gave me a tight smile, "The car's this way." He tried to steer me around but I shook him off.

"Look." I pointed to the person sitting in the pew and Sam's mouth dropped. He walked over to the person just as Dean appeared in the doorway.

"What are we still doing here?" He bit out through clenched teeth.

"The person in the pew. Look who it is." I told him, pointing to the person, Dean's face softened and I rolled my eyes, grabbing his arm and catching up to Sam.

"Lori?" Sam asked in disbelief, the girl whipped around and I saw her face was stained with tears, I groaned inwardly: why couldn't people cry in the safety of their own homes? Dean caught my look and tugged me away.

"Come on, let's go check to see if the silver's melted." Dean told me, I nodded and we left quickly and silently.

Upstairs, Dean and I watched as the flames slowly died on the last remnants of chair legs, the silver had indeed melted and had stained the ash and the sides of the metal cylinder. "So what, I jumped out of a window for nothing?" Dean broke the silence, my gaze stayed on the dying embers but a smile slowly spread across my face.

"Sounds like it." I answered and Dean sighed, muttering curses under his breath. There were only a few flames left and I was growing tired of watching the flames flicker helplessly, I waved my hands and the flames extinguished, plunging the room into darkness.

"You got a light?" Dean's silhouette asked me through the darkness, I clicked my fingers and bought a flame up, cupping it in my hands, someone tapped my shoulders and I turned. Dean was there, towering over me, the flames cast shadows across his face and the dancing flames reflected in his eyes. "How do you do that?" He asked me, I raised an eyebrow at him but answered all the same.

"Well, I click my fingers and create a spark, then you just-." I was cut off with Dean's mouth crashing into mine, the flame in my hands disappeared in shock and I realised I was kissing him back. Dean's hands ran through my hair and I glided my fingers down his face, tracing his jawline with my eyes still closed. We moved back and found the wall, I was pressed up against it with Dean, one his hands snaked down my waist and I shivered slightly. We broke off, gasping for breath, he reached up to kiss me again but suddenly stopped and frowned.

"Do you hear that?" He whispered, I strained my ears over the sound of my heart thundering in my chest, I heard a scream of pain and gasped when I realised who it belonged to.

"Sam!" I exclaimed, we both ran for the door and sprinted down the stone steps. We burst into the main church and saw carnage: furniture was smashed and lay spread out haphazardly, Sam was behind behind the Hook Man, ready to attack as the spirit poised like a snake over Lori.

Dean snapped the safety off his gun beside me, "Sam, drop!" He ordered, his brother crouched down and Dean opened fire, a bullet hit the Hook Man and he disappeared into a dark grey smoke.

"I thought we got all the silver." Sam called to us.

"So did we." Dean answered, my shoulders sagged and I sighed.

"Then why is he still here?" I asked, beside me Dean shrugged.

"Well, maybe we missed something." He answered, we started scanning the church and looking around for anything, anything that looked silver.

"Lori, where did you get that chain?" Sam asked, his voice echoing around the church, Dean and I turned to see Sam staring at Lori's necklace.

"My father gave it to me." She answered, her voice wavering as she looked down and fiddled with the silver cross around her neck.

"Where'd your Dad get it?" I asked her with urgency lacing my tone.

"He said it was a church heirloom, he gave it to me when I started school." She answered, giving me a scared glance.

"Is it silver?" Sam asked her, grabbing her shoulders as Dean and I stormed over to her.

"Yes!" She cried out, terrified. Sam ripped off the chain in one swift movement, I felt the air shift behind me and I narrowed my eyes and turned, expecting to see someone. But the hallway was empty. A long scratch suddenly scraped itself along the walls, making the stone whine in complaint, the air continued to steadily shift around me, I glanced at Dean with wide eyes and he grabs my arm and turned to his brother.

"Sam!" Dean roared, throwing his gun to him, Sam caught it and tossed us the necklace, I caught it and looked up at Dean.

"Come on!" I told him, sprinting to the stairs, I burst into the underloft and threw the necklace down into the metal bin, I clicked my fingers and threw the flame down into the pit, pushing at the air so the table against the wall, it creaked and smashed on impact, the legs collapsed and split, I snatched one up and threw it into the metal can, "Lighter fluid." I held my hand out to Dean impatiently, he handed me it and I hastily poured some of it over the necklace and the wood, the flame latched on and roared in appreciation, I looked as the necklace melted slowly. Dean sighed and I smiled in relief, we slowly went down the stairs to find Lori and Sam huddled in a corner.

"And you two saw him too? The man with the hook?" The sheriff was questioning Dean and I, a notepad in his hand as he jotted down our answers.

"Yes, we told you, we all saw him. We fought him off and then he ran." Dean answered in a bored tone, the sheriff frowned as he wrote it down.

"And that's all?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's all." I told him, the sheriff nodded and sighed as he put the notepad away.

"Listen," The sheriff turned to Dean, "You, your girl and your brother-."

"Oh don't worry, we're leaving town." Dean cut him off with a smile and we walked away.

"'Your girl'?" I quoted with a scoff, Dean chuckled and put his arm around my waist.

"What? I kinda like it, don't you?" He smirked, giving me a smirk, I couldn't help the smile forming on my face and he chuckled again, "See?"

"Shut up." I groaned softly as we got to the car, I opened the door but Dean turned my head and we shared another kiss, I closed the door and my arms wrapped around his neck. A passing car beeped loudly but we didn't care, the only thing that mattered to me was Dean.

"Excuse me," A loud clearing of a throat and a low voice made us reluctantly break apart, we turned and came face to face with the sheriff who was questioning us earlier, "Listen you two, nobody wants to see public displays like that, ok?" He told us sternly, I caught Dean's eyes and giggled.

"We're sorry, officer." Dean told him, failing to keep a straight face. The sheriff grunted and walked away, I sighed as we got into the car. I generously left the passenger seat for Sam, we looked at Sam and Lori conversing near an ambulance, I waited for them to kiss but frowned when Sam suddenly walked away without another word, Lori looked crestfallen. Sam got into the passenger seat ad sat silently, "We could stay." Dean offered, but Sam shook his head. Dean paused and then sighed in disappointment, then started the car.

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for all your support! I was so glad to get this chapter up before The Dying Of The Light, I'm not gonna update until I get 40 reviews, so please comment if you want this story to continue! Also, please tell me your thoughts of Val and Dean, I wasn't sure whether to put it in there or not, so please tell me!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Guys... I thought Hook Man would be the chapter before TDOTL... I'll try my very best to complete this before the book's release. But I seriously can't promise anything, most of my chapters average 10'500ish words and that's not easy, but I absolutely love writing and I'll do it for you guys, my lovely readers!**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 8 – Bugs

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Sam and I were at a table in the corner of a bar in Oklahoma, Sam was busy buried in a newspaper and I was fiddling with the necromancer ring on my finger, Sam looked over and his eyes found the ring. "So, what's with that thing anyway?" Sam asked, I looked up at him and frowned in confusion, tilting my head slightly. "With your other magic, you use your hands but with necromancy, you have a ring." He pointed out, nodding his head towards the ring.

"Oh, uh," I stumbled, fiddling with the ring, "Necromancers have to base their power in an object in order to use it." I explained, remembering what Solomon Wreath had taught me countless times.

"Who's Solomon Wreath? Is he your old partner?" Sam asked, I stiffened and looked at him blankly in the eyes.

"Mentor," I answered in a quiet voice, "He's my... _was _my mentor."

"Mentor... he taught you Necromancy?" Sam pressed.

"He thought that maybe I wasn't supposed to be an Elemental after all, and Necromancy was the best for me." I gave a small shrug.

"What did your partner say?" Sam questioned further, I froze again and looked at him tensely.

"He, uh, he _hated _the idea of me learning Necromancy actually," I gave him a small smile, "It's a long story."

"Right." Sam rolled his eyes and I gave him a pained look.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I don't really want to talk about someone who I'll never see again." I explained, my voice going quiet again. Sam nodded slowly, then going back to the newspaper, Dean came over with a bright smile on his face. In his hand he was holding a large wad of cash in it, Sam looked up again and sighed heavily.

"You know, we could get day jobs once in a while." Sam gave us a look, Dean shook his head.

"Huntings our day job, and the pay is crap." Dean answered, reaching down and pulling me in for a kiss.

"Guys, do you really have to do that in front of me?" Sam moaned and we broke apart, I gave him a wry grin.

"Duh, Sammy." I answered as Dean's hand snaked around my waist.

"You guys are jerks," Sam shook his head and Dean chuckled, "Anyway, hustling pool, credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, guys." He argued.

"Well, let's see," Dean sighed, his hand unwrapped from my waist as he held up both hands at the same height, "Honest," He moves his left hand down, "Fun and easy," He moved his right hand up and smiled at the scale he had done, "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it – it's what we were raised to do." Dean shrugged, dropping his hands.

"Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked, I bet Stephanie had a proper childhood." Sam gestured to me and I stiffened in my seat.

"Yeah Sam, I had a 'proper childhood'," I used my hands as quotation marks, "And look where it got me: I wasn't shoved into this life. I _chose _it. And you know why? Because normal life is not what I was supposed to do." I explained, leaning on the table with my elbows, there was silence in the room and Sam looked down.

"So... we got a new gig or what?" Dean asked, his tone a little awkward. Sam cleared his throat and tapped the newspaper he had been reading.

"Maybe, Oasis Plains in Oklahoma – not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob." Sam explained, giving us a grim look.

"Come again?" I asked, frowning at the odd word Sam had pronounced to us.

"Human mad cow disease." Sam smiled a little and I pulled a face.

"Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?" Dean murmured, Sam and I stared at him in shock.

"You watch Oprah?" We chorused, I smirked at him and Sam chuckled a little. Dean didn't meet our eyes and forced a cough.

"So this guy eats a bad burger," Dean changed the topic awkwardly, "Why is it our kind of thing?" He asked.

I continued to smirk as Sam explained, "Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less."

"Ok, that's weird." I muttered, shuddering a little.

"Yeah. Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be something much nastier." Sam nodded, Dean looked at his brother fr a moment, I glimpsed the challenge in his eyes as he drummed his hands on the table.

"Alright. Oklahoma," Dean grinned, standing up. Sam and I stood up with him and we walked out of the bar, "Man. Work, work, work. No time to spend my money." Dean sighed sadly as we got into the car.

Oasis Plains was pretty... empty. It was just a barren piece of land with a few new houses and building plots built on deserted ground. There was no scenery, just miles and miles of... nothing. There were builders working on a site at the corner of one of the almost finished streets, Dean parked the car and we got out, approaching a man looking at the building plans. "Travis Weaver?" Sam called, the man turned and took off his battered and torn cap. His face was lined and had stubble, his eyes were dark and hooded – as if he hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

"Yeah, that's right." Travis nodded slowly, eyeing us carefully.

"Are you the Travis that worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked, his eyes wide and innocent.

"Dusting never mentioned nephews." Travis replied slowly, looking at the three of us suspiciously.

"Really?" I asked in pretend confusion, looking at Sam and Dean and then back at Travis, "Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest." I smiled, Travis tilted his head and I nodded convincingly.

"Yeah." Sam smiled too, catching on to the lie.

"Oh, he did? Huh." Travis smiled a little.

"Listen, we wanted to ask you..." Dean trailed off, looking around the building site, "What exactly happened out here?"

"I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh... by the time I got back..." Travis trailed off and scratched the back off his neck.

"What did you see?" I pressed.

"Nothin'. Just Dustin." Travis answered shortly, not wanting to dwell on the subject.

"No wounds or anything?" I frowned in confusion.

"Well, he was bleeding..." Travis looked at me and I nodded at him, encouraging him to carry on, "From his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it." Travis sighed and looked at the ground.

"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean asked him, Travis looked up and shrugged simply.

"I don't know. That's what the doctors are saying." Travis answered, his tone an attempt to disregard the subject.

"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?" Sam questioned gently.

Travis frowned and shook his head quickly, "No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?"

"That's a good question." I muttered, looking up at the huge, white houses that stood proudly up and down the street, "Can you tell us where this happened?" I asked, switching my gaze back to the man.

"Yeah." He nodded, he walked passed us and the three of us watched as he crossed the empty road, to the house directly opposite. The front garden looked as normal and exactly the same as the other houses that lined the street, save for an area of the garden that was sectioned off with yellow police tape. Dean nudged me and we followed the builder, walked until we stood beside him. I stole a glance at Travis and saw he was staring sadly into the dark hole in the earth. "If you need anything else, I'll be round the back of that house right there." Travis looked up at us, Sam nodded slowly and Travis took his leave. As soon as he was gone we crouched down and peered into the hole, it was deep and dark... not to mention narrow.

"Huh. What do you two think?" Dean broke the silence, I shook my head and Sam shrugged.

"I don't know, but if that guy, Travis, was right: it happened pretty damn fast." Sam answered, we moved further forwards and under the police tape. Sam reached into his pocket and bought out his torch, switching it on and shining the beam into the hole.

"So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" Dean wondered aloud.

"Wouldn't there be an entry wound? Besides, it sounds like this thing, whatever it was, worked from the inside." I answered.

"Right. Well, which one of us is going down Alice's rabbit hole?" Dean asked, I shook my head immediately.

"Nu-uh, nope, not me." I shook my head, my eyes wide with fear. Sam and Dean exchanged a glance and then looked at me oddly.

"Why not?" Sam asked. I shut my eyes, the caves with Melancholia that time, with the creature carrying me away and trying to force me through the tight space, creatures crawling through my hair and on my arms.

"There was a thing," I opened my eyes and looked at them seriously, "I was in these caves, and there was this – this creature that attacked me. I just... couldn't..." I trailed off and bit my lip, the two boys looked at me in amazement.

"Huh?" Dean asked dumbly.

"I have Claustrophobia, ok?" I exclaimed, my voice getting louder and louder, my words tumbling out of my mouth quickly, "Enclosed spaces, they just make me wanna," I balled up my hands and unclenched them, moving the hair out my face and then burying my face in my hands, "I can't do it, ok? Ask me to do anything else, I'll do it, but this? No." I shifted uncomfortably, Dean and Sam looked at eachother before shrugging.

"Well, guess that rules Steph out," Dean gave me a smile before turning to his brother, "You wanna flip a coin?" He asked, his tone playful and challenging, making me smile.

"Dean, we have no idea what's down there." Sam shook his head, Dean shrugged and turned away, walking out of the police tape and picking up a discarded coil of rope.

"Alright, I'll go if you're scared," Dean smiled, his eyes mocking, "You scared?" He challenged.

"Flip the damn coin." Sam answered tersely, Dean chuckled and I grinned. The older brother stepped back under the tape and reached for a coin in his pocket.

"Alright, call it in the air... chicken." Dean goaded, holding the coin up and flipping it, it spun in the air for two seconds before Sam reached out and snatched it from the air.

"I'm going." Sam announced, taking the coil of rope from Dean, I raised an eyebrow at Dean and he shrugged.

"I said I'd go." Dean protested.

"I'm going." Sam responded, his tone stern, Dean shrugged and grinned.

"Alright." He smirked as Sam started tying the rope around his waist, he gave the rest of the rope to me.

"Don't drop me." He warned, I looked up at Sam and smirked.

"Would I do that to you?" I asked him sweetly, Sam rolled his eyes and jumped down the dark hole.

"So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's _shocking_, Sam." Dean sighed and shook his head as he drove, Sam was in the front seat examining a dead beetle that lay in the palm of his hand.

I leant forward and frowned, "After all that squabbling outside that hole, we found a bug?" I sighed and sat backwards.

"There were no tunnels, no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there," Sam murmured in response, "You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but-."

"How many did you find down there?" Dean cut him off impatiently.

"Ten." The younger boy replied.

"It'd take a lot more than that to eat out some guy's brain." I piped up, Sam looked up and turned his neck to face me.

"Well, maybe there were more." He argued, I raised an eyebrow and gave him a look.

"I don't know, it sounds like a bit of a stretch." I replied, eyeing the bug sceptically in his open palm.

"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighbourhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before." Sam answered, I sighed and looked out the window.

"Great idea, Sam, we'll just ask the person who lives right here... oh wait, no one _actually _lives here yet."I sighed irritably, Dean chuckled in the front and I sighed again, "I'm bored." I announced.

"Really? We hadn't noticed." Sam chuckled and Dean grinned back at me.

"Eyes front, Dean. You're driving." I reminded him miserably, I looked out the windscreen, a house caught my eye: red balloons were tied to the white picket fence and cars were lining the street. A sign outside advertised a local barbecue for house hunters.

"Hey, I know a good place to start," Dean pointed to the house, "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbecue, how 'bout you two?" He asked.

"Please! Anything to get out of this car!" I moaned dramatically, Sam shook his head and then gave his brother a knowing look.

"What, we can't talk to the locals?" Dean protested, his eyes widening innocently.

"And the free food's got nothing to do with it?" Sam smirked.

"Of course not, he's a professional, remember?" I smiled leaning forward again, Sam laughed and looked at me.

"Right." He said, his tone dripping with sarcasm and contempt, Dean pulled over and parked the car, the three of us got out and started walking towards the house.

"Growing up in a place like this would freak me out." Dean stated, making a disgusted noise as we opened the gate and started down the garden path.

"Why?" His brother asked, looking at Dean in shock.

"Well, manicured lawns, 'how was your day honey?' I'd rather blow my brains out." Dean complained, I nodded in agreement.

"See what I mean, Sam? It's mind numbing." I muttered, Sam whipped around and looked at me, his eyes bored down into mine before he shook his head.

"You guys are crazy, there's nothing wrong with normal." Sam argued, Dean shook his head.

"I'd take our family over normal any day." He replied, we fell silent as we climbed the stairs of the porch, Sam reached forward and knocked on the door.

A man opened the door and gave us a guarded smile, "Welcome."

"This the barbecue?" Dean asked, the man nodded.

"Yeah, not the best weather but..." The man trailed off, looking at the dull cloudy sky, "I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are..?" He looked at us expectantly.

"Dean," The older Winchester smiled and then indicated to myself and Sam, "This is Steph, and that's Sam." Larry shook each of our hands in turn.

"Stephanie, Sam, Dean: good to meet you. So, you three are interested in Oasis Plains?" He asked, his gaze lingered hesitantly on the two boys, but I shrugged it off.

"Yes, sir." Dean confirmed.

"Let me just say – we accept homeowners of any race, religion, colour, or... sexual orientation." Larry gave Sam and Dean a forced smile, there was a brief silence before I burst out laughing.

"What? No, no – we're brothers." Dean protested, and then put his hand around my waist, "Stephanie's my girl."

"Oh, I'm – I'm sorry." Larry smiled weakly, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"No, no, don't be. It's hilarious." I grinned at the man.

"Our father is getting on in years, and we're just looking for a place for him." Sam explained hastily, before I threatened to explode into another bout of giggles.

"Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in." Larry smiled, although I sensed the smile was apologetic, he motioned for us to walk through and we obliged, Dean's hand remained firmly wrapped around my waist as he gave Larry a tight smile.

"That. Was not funny." Dean growled through clenched teeth, I broke into a smile again and looked up at him.

"You're right, it was completely hysterical!" I giggled again and Dean rolled his eyes.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" Dean sighed and I shook my head.

"Nope." I answered as we reached the back garden, lots of people were stood around chatting and laughing amongst themselves, "This may be a hunch," I murmured, eyeing the people with narrowed eyes, "But I don't think these are our kind of people."

"Agreed." Dean muttered, putting on a smile for Larry.

"You said you were a developer?" Sam continued the conversation with Larry, the developer nodded, his chest puffed out slightly.

"Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house, we're the first family in Oasis Plains," Larry smiled, his teeth were pearly white and looked a little too perfect to be real. I woman with fake blonde hair walked over, Larry smiled and put a hand on her shoulders, "This is my wife, Joanie." He announced, Joanie smiled and shook each of our hands.

"Hi, nice to meet you." She greeted and I smiled in return, although it wasn't as wide as hers.

"This is Sam, Dean and Stephanie." Larry pointed to each of us in turn, "Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses." Larry joked, Joanie laughed lightly and the three of us chuckled politely.

"Guys, will you excuse me?" Larry asked and walked away.

Joanie watched her husband go and then looked at us, I moved away from Dean, spotting the drinks table and deciding to get a glass of water. I drank it and smiled politely to the other guests, I looked back at Sam and Dean and saw they were shaking hands with yet another woman, even from here I could tell she was one of those other enthusiastic people who you either liked or hated. Nevertheless, I guess there was only one way to get information on Dustin's death I walked back over to them slowly. "...Let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, colour or... sexual orientation." The woman was smiling tightly at the two boys, I sniggered and they turned around, shock written on their faces. "I'm sorry... and you are?" She asked.

"This is our friend, Stephanie." Dean answered for me, seeing my glance at him and he chuckled, "Right. Um... I'm gonna go talk to Larry," He turned to the Sam and smiled, "Ok, honey?" before walking away, smacking his arse as he did so. Sam coughed awkwardly and I struggled to keep the smile off my face. I zoned out again when the sales assistant began talking to Sam enthusiastically about the features of the homes that had been built here, thinking about Ireland and wondering what her parents would be doing at that moment. ]

A slight nudge from the younger Winchester jerked her back into reality, and she scowled inwardly when she saw that the woman was still talking about the houses. "Who say 'no' to a steam shower? I use mine everyday?" The woman laughed lightly and I forced a tight smile on my face in response.

"Sounds great," Sam replied, sounding as uninterested as I felt.

"And wait till you see the bedrooms, each room has it's own fitted wardrobe and dresser, along with a bed of course," She laughed again and I nodded, trying hard not to punch the fake smile off the woman's face. "And not to mention the-."

"Excuse me." Sam cut her off abruptly and I gave him a grateful look, but Sam had already moved away, I followed curiously and recoiled to what he was doing: a large, dark, hairy tarantula was crawling into Sam's hand and I cringed instantly, fighting the urge not to shudder as Sam carefully handled the arachnid, he walked over to where a teenage boy was stood, "Is this yours?" Sam asked him.

"Are you guys gonna tell my Dad?" The boy sighed, taking the eight legged monster from Sam's hand.

"Well that depends, who's your Dad?" I asked him, giving him a friendly smile, trying to ignore the wriggling dark mass in his hands.

"Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions." The boy scoffed in response, rolling his eyes.

"Ouch, first name basis with the old man – sounds pretty grim." I observed, whilst next to me Sam looked at the boy in interest.

"Well, I'm not exactly brochure material." The teenager smiled and I gave him a shrug. To my surprise Sam reached forward and clapped the boy on the shoulder.

"Hang in there, it gets better, alright? I promise." Sam told him, his tone sympathetic. I looked at him in sudden interest: Sam's relationship with his father couldn't have been _that _bad, could it?

"When?" The boy's smile dropped, desperation entered his eyes.

"Matthew." A voice sharply cut us off, we turned to see Larry and Dean approaching them, he shot his son a harsh look, before softening his gaze for Sam and I.

"I am so sorry about my son and his..." He looked down at the spider in Matt's hands in disdain, "Pet."

"Oh, it's no bother, really." I smiled, defending the teenager.

"Excuse us." Larry replied, taking my comment with no interest. I sighed as Matt was steered away by Larry quickly, I glimpsed the fierceness in the man's eyes and felt a pang of sympathy for the boy.

"Remind you of someone?" Sam murmured, I tilted my head and looked at the two boys as they watched Larry yell at Matt, Dean's eyes clouded over with confusion when he looked back at his brother.

"Dad?" He asked, perplexed, "Dad never treated us like that." Dean shot his brother an odd look.

"Well, Dad never treated _you _like that," Sam shrugged, "_You _were perfect. He was all over my case," He said bitterly, then looked at Dean in amazement, "You don't remember?"

"Maybe he had to raise his voice," Dean reasoned, "But sometimes you _were _out of line."

"Right, right," Sam scoffed with a shake of his head, "Like when I said I wanted to play soccer than learn bowhunting."

"Bowhunting's an important skill." Dean replied with an edge to his tone, making me raise an eyebrow: in some ways, Sam and Dean truly were entirely divided.

"Whatever," Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, "How was your tour?"

"Oh it was excellent, I'm ready to buy." Dean replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm, I laughed and he shot me a small sideways smile.

"You're so right," I grinned, "We should pool all our cash together and try and buy one, we could move in tonight, try out these steam showers that they've been raving about." I suggested, Dean chuckled and looked at me dubiously.

"Yeah right, because you have _so _much money on you." He smirked and I raised an eyebrow.

"Will a fiver do?" I smiled, pulling out a very crumpled five pound note from my pocket, Dean frowned and looked at it.

"Why do you have this?" He asked, looking at it closely.

"Because when I first arrived here it was in my pocket, why else?" I replied.

"Oh," Dean handed it back to me and I rolled my eyes, "So anyway, you might be onto something: looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here." Dean turned to Sam and he looked at his brother in surprise.

"What happened?" Sam questioned.

"About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job, get's this severe reaction to bee stings." Dean explained and I frowned: bees.

"More bugs." I muttered and Dean nodded.

"More bugs." He echoed in agreement, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair irritably, Dean reached over and squeezed my hand gently, kissing me on the cheek softly.

Dean let Sam drive on the way back, Dean and I were sat in the back, John Winchester's journal on his lap and a flame cupped in my hands so we could read the pages. "You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" Dean wondered aloud, I blinked tiredly as Dean flicked through another page.

"Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations." Sam replied.

"Yeah, but I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity." Dean argued, sighing in defeat as he closed the battered journal.

"Yeah, me and Steph didn't either." Sam agreed.

"I didn't know we were looking for any." I murmured, and Dean smiled slightly, "Maybe there being controlled somehow. You know – something or someone." I theorised quietly, watching the houses pass by the window quickly as Sam drove on.

"You mean, like Willard?" Sam asked and I frowned.

"Who?"

"Nevermind," Dean chuckled, putting his arm around me, I yawned and leant on him sleepily, "Yeah, bugs istead of rats." He answered his brother as I got into a comfortable position.

"There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals." Sam continued as I yawned again.

"Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing..." Dean trailed off and I sat up as I realised something.

"Larry's kid – he's got that spider for a pet." I pointed out.

"Not just one, he's got loads of bugs." Dean replied.

"Matt?" Sam tilted his head.

"Yeah."

"He _did _try and scare the really annoying lady with a tarantula." I muttered, thinking about the hairy black thing crawling towards my hand and I shuddered.

"You guys think he's our Willard?" Dean asked and I nodded slowly.

"I dunno, anything's possible, I guess." Sam responded quietly, but Dean wasn't paying attention anymore, he was looking out the window in interest.

"Ooh, hey. Pull over here." Dean pointed out the window, Sam shot his brother a confused look but did as he asked, we parked in the driveway of one of the Oasis Plains homes.

"What are we doing here?" Sam asked as he turned the car off, turning and looking back at Dean.

"Well, Steph can't keep her eyes open for a moment longer and it's too late to talk to anybody else." Dean shrugged, I blinked and tried to force myself awake.

"I'm fine." I told him as I yawned, Dean chuckled and moved some stray hair from my face.

"Sure you are." He smirked.

"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam looked up at the large house doubtfully.

"I wanna try the steam shower," Dean shrugged again and I smiled sleepily, he got out the car and walked over to my side, carefully picking me up and carrying me in his arms towards the garage, I reached out tiredly and opened the door, Dean turned and looked back at Sam, "Come on." He urged, but Sam stayed still in the car, Dean sagged and stared at his brother, "Come on!" He urged, Sam sighed and reluctantly eased the car into the garage, I reached out and pulled the garage door down behind him. As Dean moved towards his brother I tiredly shut my eyes and gave in to the sleep that overtook me the moment my eyes closed.

Well, I had to hand it to the realtor: the showers were _great_. Dean and I's needlessly long shower was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. "You ever coming out of there?" Sam's voice drifted towards us and Dean looked irritably over to the bathroom door.

"What?" He called loudly back, I smiled and padded through the steam over to the towel rail, grabbing one and wrapping it around my torso, leaving my hair to lazily drip on my shoulders.

"Dean, a police call came in on the scanner and I don't know where Steph is." Sam replied, I giggled as Dean shot me a mischievous grin and turned the shower off.

"Hold on." Dean called, I threw him a towel and he wrapped his head in it, I shook my head but a smile spread across my face at his antics.

"Someone was found dead three blocks away from here. Come on." Sam's tone was irritable now. The steam surrounded the room as Dean opened the door, Sam was stood there looking annoyedly at his brother, I ducked out from sight and hid behind the door.

"This shower is _awesome_." Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're great," Sam muttered off-handedly, "Come on, we gotta be somewhere and I can't find Stephanie." Dean widened the door and I came into view of Sam, I gave the younger brother a smile.

"Morning, Sam." I greeted sweetly, Sam looked at me and then back at Dean.

"Come on." He sighed, rolling his eyes and walking away, I caught Dean's eyes and giggled again, he suddenly picked me up in his arms and I squealed with surprise as he walked us to the bedroom and shut the door behind us.

The drive over to the crime scene was awkwardly quiet, Dean was driving again and Sam was in his customary passenger seat, nobody said a word as Dean pulled over. There was an ambulance outside the house and policemen stood around talking with eachother in hushed tones, I recognised Larry standing a few feet away talking with an officer, I got out the car and approached as the officer walked away. "Hello, you're, uh, back early." Larry smiled weakly, his eyes were dark rimmed and tied, his tone was exhausted.

"Yeah, the three of us drove in, Dean and Sam wanted to take another look at the neighbourhood before we left." The lie came easily, I heard the boys approach behind me and Larry's tired eyes flickered to them both.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking at the officers.

"You guys met, uh... Lynda Bloome at the barbecue?" Larry stuttered, a body bag on a stretcher was being carried out of the house carefully by some paramedics.

"The realtor." I turned back to Larry, my eyes narrowing slightly.

"Well, she, uh... passed away last night." Larry explained sadly and my eyes widened in shock.

"What happened?" Dean spluttered.

"I'm still trying to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I – I'm sorry, this isn't a good time right now." Larry spoke distractedly, his eyes shifting to each of us.

Sam nodded in understanding, "It's ok."

"Excuse me." Larry cleared his throat and walked away quickly, the three of us watched him go in silence, a little way away, Lynda's body was being loaded carefully into the back of the ambulance.

"You know what we have to do, right?" Dean looked at Sam and I.

"Yeah. Get in the house." Sam nodded slowly.

"Should be easy enough," I agreed, watching as the ambulance drove away, then looking up at the house, "See if we have a bug problem."

The three of us moved quickly, skirting around the side of the house and climbing through Lynda's bedroom window, her bedroom matched the woman who had once lived here: pristine white floors and bedsheets, not a speck of dirt to be seen anywhere – save the blood splatters and the body outline that had been painted onto the carpet, a little way away from the outline there was a towel discarded on the marble floor. "This looks like the place." I nodded grimly, walking over to the towel and picking it up, little black things fell from it and I recoiled and dropped it, peering closer at what had fallen out. My stomach lurched when I saw that the towel was covered with dead spiders, I looked up at Dean, my mouth dry.

"Spiders," He sighed, looking down at what I had found, "From Spider Boy?" He asked.

"Matt," Sam corrected his brother tersely, "Maybe."

The rest of the day had flung by, we had stopped at a local diner but after the spider encounter I didn't really feel up to eating, Sam had also played with his food faint-heartedly whilst Dean had gladly munched into his mood without so much as batting an eyelid. On the drive back to Oasis Plains we saw a school bus pull up and recognised Matt getting off, we pulled over and watched as Matt began walking through a path just outside the new neighbourhood. "Isn't his house that way?" Dean asked, pointing towards Oasis Plains,

"Yup." Sam nodded and the three of us got out, walking quickly in pursuit of the teenager, we found him in the woods examining a stick insect.

"Hey Matt," I called, he turned and I gave him a friendly smile, "Remember us?" I asked, gesturing to myself and Sam.

"What are you doing out here?" Matt asked, eyeing us suspiciously.

"Well, we wanna talk to you." Dean shrugged.

"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Matt asked, we all exchanged a look and shook our heads, Matt smiled triumphantly, then his face fell and fear crossed his features, "You're not serial killers, are you?" He asked, his voice a little weak, there was a brief pause and the boys chuckled, whilst I edged a smile.

"No, no, no. I think you're safe." Sam chuckled good-naturedly and Matt visibly relaxed.

"So, Matt..." Dean trailed off and looked at the stick insect on Matt's finger, "You sure know a lot about insects." He pointed, his voice nonchalant and his eyes innocent, nevertheless Matt's eyes narrowed.

"So?" The boy asked guardedly.

"You _did _hear what happened to the realtor, Lynda, right?" I asked him, my tone gentle.

"I heard she died this morning." Matt replied and I nodded.

"Mmm, that's right. Spider bites." I looked at him pointedly and he frowned slightly.

"Matt... you tried to scare her with a spider." Sam took over, stepping forward slightly, confusion clouded the teenager's features and then brightened.

"Wait. You think _I _had something to do with this?" Matt asked, horrified.

"You tell us." Dean shrugged.

"That tarantula was a joke," The boy explained quickly, "Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy." He tried and my eyes widened in surprise.

"You know about those?" I asked him.

"There is something going on here," Matt admitted, "I don't know what... but something's happening here with the insects. Let me show you something." Matt looked down at the stick insect and carefully laid it down on a nearby branch, then he picked up his school bag and began walking away, looking back at us and we followed slowly.

"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your Dad?" Sam asked, "Maybe he could clear everybody out." He suggested.

"Believe me, I've tried," Matt scoffed, looking back at us, "But, uh, _Larry _doesn't listen to me." Matt gave us a tight smile when he said his Dad's name.

"Why not?" Sam pressed.

"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son." Matt replied scornfully, Sam slowed down and shook his head.

"I hear you." The younger brother scoffed, I looked over at Dean and saw he was frowning at his brother.

"You do?" Dean piped up, Sam turned to us and gave him a look.

"Matt, how old are you?" Sam called out, turning around and speeding up his pace a little.

"Sixteen." The teenager answered in a bored tone.

"Well, don't sweat it," Sam told him in a reassuring tone, "Because in two years, something great is gonna happen."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Matt called back, his tone laced with doubt.

"College. You'll be able to get out of your house and away from your Dad." Sam answered cryptically, I blinked in surprise at Sam's advice.

"Ouch." I murmured, glancing at Dean.

"Tell me about it," Dean replied in a low voice and frowned at the back of Sam's head, "What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family." Dean called out to him, Sam sighed and shot him a glare.

"How much farther Matt?" The younger Winchester turned back to the teenager again.

"We're close." Matt answered, Sam turned and gave Dean another glare and my eyes widened in surprise: Sam's relationship with his Dad can't have been good before he himself had left for college. When we reached a clearing Matt stopped walking, and over the silence you could hear the loud chirping and humming of insects nearby among the trees. "I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class." He explained, going red as he glanced at me, making me smile slightly.

"Wow. You and Sam are like two peas in a pod." Dean drawled, Matt looked away and Sam ignored me.

"What's been happening?" Sam asked the teenager.

"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles... you name it. It's like they're congregating here." Matt frowned in confusion.

"Why?" I asked him, tilting my head curiously.

"I don't know." The boy shrugged in response, I glanced at Dean and sighed.

"What's that?" Sam pointed to a small hill on the far side of the clearing and I frowned, noticing the grass was darker than it was over where we were stood. We slowly walked over to the mound carefully, on the top of the hill there were hundreds of worms thriving in a small area, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I discreetly moved my palms and sent a wave of air towards the worms, they fell away into the ground, revealing a hole in the Earth. Dean grabs a fallen stick and moved towards the hole, he poked the stick around the hole and looked back up at us.

"There's something down there." He announced, pulling the stick out and throwing the stick down and putting his hand down the hole, he rummaged around with a disgusted expression on his face. I braced myself in case he was dragged down the hole, I sighed with relief when he pulled his hand out safely, I looked closely and saw he war holding something in his hand, Dean used his over hand to brush away the debris and worms to reveal an old, human skull.

We headed straight to the local university after dropping Matt off home, when we pulled up outside Dean opened the trunk and pulled out the box containing the bones we had found I the clearing, then we headed for the university entrance. "So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave." Sam stated.

"Yeah, maybe this _is _a haunting. You know, pissed off spirits – some unfinished business?" I wondered as we reached the entrance to the university.

"Yeah, maybe," Sam murmured, "The question is though: why bugs? And why now?"

"That's two questions," Dean piped up, but his brother ignored him. "Yeah, so with that kid back there... why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?" He asked, I glanced at Dean at the corner of my eye but he kept his gaze fixed on his brother.

"Just, uh... I know what the kid's going through." Sam shrugged with an air of nonchalance, beside me Dean frowned and shook his head.

"How about telling him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" Dean argued.

"Dean, come on," The three of us stopped walking altogether, Sam turned and towered over his older brother, "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad – that's what this is about."

Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam and I looked away awkwardly, the tension peaking, "Just forget it, alright? Sorry I bought it up." Dean sighed and held his hands up in defeat, then he started walking away, Sam stared back at his brother I amazement.

"I respected him, but no matter what I did it was never good enough." Sam called over to Dean, his tone incredulous.

"So what are you saying? That Dad was disappointed in you?" Dean glanced back at his brother.

"Was? _Is_. Always has been." Sam shrugged, I sighed and began walking again, keeping my distance from the boys.

"Why would you think that?" Dean demanded.

"Because I didn't want to hustle pool or bowhunt," Sam scoffed bitterly, "Because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked out family: made me the freak."

"Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in _The Munsters_." Dean joked, but Sam didn't appreciate the jibe.

"Dean, you know what most Dads are when their kids score a full ride? _Proud_. Most Dads don't toss their kids out the house." Sam sighed annoyedly, Dean stopped walking and turned, his eyes narrowed.

"I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth." Dean pointed angrily at Sam and glared at him accusingly.

"You know, truth is: when we finally find Dad... I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me." Sam admitted, meeting his brothers eyes sadly.

Dean froze for a moment and then sighed, "Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was _scared_."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked in disbelief, a smirk appeared on his face as he stared his brother down.

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talking... He used to swing by Stanford whenever he could," Dean revealed, his voice uncharacteristically quiet, I glanced at Sam and saw his smirk slowly fade from his face, "Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."

"What?" Sam murmured, his eyes widened.

"Yeah." Dean nodded in confirmation.

"Why didn't you tell me any of that?" Sam asked, all his previous emotions dissipitating.

"Well, it's a two way street, dude," Dean shrugged and gave Sam a look, "You could've picked up the phone." Sam stayed very, very still, realisation brimming in his eyes.

"Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment, guys." I broke the silence quietly, tapping Sam on the arm gently and walking away, leaving them both in the hallway.

"So, you three are students?" The old professor asked, looking at me behind his wide glasses.

"Yeah... yeah, uh, we're in your class – Anthro 101?" Sam questioned his answer and the professor nodded.

"Oh, yeah."

"So, what about the bones, Professor?" Dean asked, tapping the box with the bones we had excavated.

"This is quite an interesting find you three have made. I'd say they're one hundred and seventy years old, give or take," The professor shrugged, pushing his glasses up, "The timeframe and the geography heavily suggest Native American."

"Were there any tribes or, uh, reservations on that land?" I asked, feigning interest.

"Not according to the historical record. But the relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time." The man answered and I nodded slowly.

"Right. Well, are there any local legends? Histories about the area?" I pressed, the professor thought for a moment and then shrugged.

"Well... you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here, someone out there might know the truth." The professor answered and Dean grinned.

"Alright, then." He drummed his hands on the box and we exited the room quietly.

"Thank you!" I called to the man before we shut the door, "Right, let's go find the Yewtrees in the Sapapult." I smiled determinedly, Sam chuckled and Dean shook his head.

Upon arrival to Sapulpa, as the boys had corrected me, a man had directed us to the local diner where we would surely find someone who would know about any local legends and myths relating to ancient tribes. In the diner we spotted an old Native American man in the corner sorting through some very old looking playing cards on the table, we headed over to him and gave him welcoming smiles. "Joe White Tree?" Sam asked, the man looked up and nodded slowly, his eyes darted to each of us, studying us closely.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright." I told him.

"We're students from the university." Dean explained, lying effortlessly.

"No, you're not. You're lying." Joe shook his head as the three of us sat opposite him, Dean looked taken aback as he slid in next to me, he forced a laugh and faked another smile.

"Well, truth is-."

"You know who starts sentences with 'truth is'? Liars." Joe leaned forward and narrowed his wrinkled eyes at the older Winchester, Sam and I glanced over to him and I smirked at him.

"Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley." Sam took over before Dean could make an even bigger idiot of himself.

"I like him," Joe glanced at Dean, "He's not a liar," Dean frowned and my smirk turned into a snicker, it was cut short by Dean's foot connecting with my shin, Joe glanced at the two of us and then looked at Sam, "I know the area." He confirmed.

"What can you tell us about the history there?" Sam asked, a smile tugging at the end of his laps.

"Why do you want to know?" Joe asked, glancing at the three of us suspiciously.

"Something... something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have to do with some old bones we found down there – Native American bones." I explained, Joe looked at me for a long time before leaning back in his chair.

"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people." He finished his chilling story with a glint in his wizened eyes, and I fought down a shudder.

"Insects," Dean murmured, "Sounds like nature to me. Six days."

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." Joe nodded, I looked at the boys, alarmed.

"When did the gas company man die?" I asked as soon as we exited the diner.

"Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth." Dean worked out.

"March twentieth?" Sam asked, Dean nodded and I frowned.

"What's so important about the month?" I asked him.

"March twentieth is the spring equinox." Sam explained and I looked at him blankly.

"The what?"

"It's basically the night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals." Dean answered.

"So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger." Sam pointed out and I groaned.

"Larry's an absolute idiot: he built his neighbourhood on cursed land." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, and on the sixth night – that's tonight." Dean concluded.

"Hooray." I said, with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?" Sam asked, to my surprise Dean chuckled and shook his head at his brother.

"You don't break a curse – you get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now." Dean shook his head, we rushed to the car and got in, Dean slammed his foot on the pedal and we sped away.

"Yes, Mr Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighbourhood." I spoke in urgent tones in the mouthpiece.

"God, really? And how big?" Mr Pike's voice answered worriedly.

"Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe." I explained.

"And who is this, again?" Larry's voice sounded over the tone.

"Uh," I glanced at Dean in alarm, frozen, "J-Janet Parker, I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power." I plucked a random name out, biting my lip as Larry paused.

"Uh-huh. Well, the problem is, I know a guy who works there, Travis. I know the entire team who's been working on this site for the three years of development, and there isn't a Janet Parker on the team. So tell me right now, who is this?" Larry demanded, his voice suddenly angry. Dean glanced back at me and I shot him a panicked look, opening my mouth and closing it.

"Uh..." In a flurry of consternation, I thumbed the button on the phone and hung up.

Sam sighed and reached his hand out, "Give me the phone." I sulkily placed the object in his hand and Sam began to dial a number.

"Matt, it's Sam." Sam greeted cheerily and I rolled my eyes: of course the logical thing to do would to call the kid. "Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, ok?" Sam told him in a desperate voice, there was a pause and Sam suddenly sighed irritably, "Because something's coming." He explained, I glanced out the window as we rounded a corner, we were almost in Oasis Plains, "Yeah, a lot more." Sam rubbed his forehead in an effort to calm himself, but the stress was evident in his rushed tones, "You've gotta make him listen, ok?" Sam told him, Dean looked over to his brother and rolled his eyes.

"Give me the phone, give me the phone." He ordered, snatching the hand from Sam's grip roughly and shoving it up to his ear, "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts." Dean said in a tone full of authority, "Tell him you have a hsarp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, ok?" He ordered, then he snapped the phone shut and looked at Sam and sighed, "Make him listen?" He repeated with a shake of his head, "What are you thinking?"

We pulled up outside Larry's house and peered in, inside the lights were still on and Larry himself was looking out the window staring at the car. "Damn it, they're still here. Come on." Dean sighed and we got out the car, Matt ran out the house as Larry stormed over to us.

"Get off my property, before I call the cops." Larry glared at us, his voice stern.

"Mr. Pike, you have to listen." I told him, meeting his gaze evenly.

"Dad, they're just trying to help." Matt tried, his Dad whirled and pointed angrily to the house.

"Get in the house!" He ordered, instead Matt turned to us, an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I told him the truth." He admitted, Dean and I sighed whilst Sam shrugged.

"We had a plan, Matt what happened to the plan?" Dean groaned.

"Look, it's 12.00 AM. They are coming any minute now, you need to get your family and go, before it's too late." Sam told him, glancing up at the sky.

Larry scoffed and raised an eyebrow at each of us, "Yeah, you mean before the biblical storm." Larry laughed and I glared at him, I was so done with this guy.

"Larry, what do you really think happened to the realtor, huh?" I asked, stepping over to him, towering over him, "And the gas company guy? You don't think something weird is going on here?" I glared daggers at him, expecting him to crumble under my gaze.

Instead, Larry crossed his arms and didn't back down, "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're all crazy. And if you come near my boy or my family again, then we're gonna have a problem."

"Well, I hate to be downer, but we've got a problem right now." Dean stepped forward, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Dad, they're right, ok? We're in danger." Matt was at his Dad's arm again.

"Matt, get inside! Now!" Larry ordered, his tone more forceful this time.

"No! Why won't you listen to me?" Matt argued back.

"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!" Larry turned to his son, his voice loud and wildly aggressive.

"Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?" Sam cut in, leaping to Matt's defence.

"Wait." Dean called over the din, and everyone fell silent and looked at him, "You hear that?" He asked, we stood and strained our ears. A very loud, very deep humming noise could be heard, as the seconds passed the humming got louder and louder.

"What the hell?" Larry exclaimed, on the porch of the house the fluorescent bug light began to zap wildly, eventually over heating as several bugs fell from it. I gave Dean a fearful look, he reached out and squeezed my hand in an attempt of reassurance.

"Alright, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife." Dean pointed back to the house.

"Guys!" Matt pointed up to the sky, in the morning light on the horizon, the largest swarm of bugs were flying towards the house, flickering and blanketing the dark sky.

"Oh my God." Larry murmured, staring up at the sky in horror.

"We'll never make it." I looked at Dean and Sam and they stared at me for several seconds before Dean looked at the house.

"Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house, go!" Dean ordered, no one stopped to object, we rushed to the house and Sam locked the door behind us.

"Ok, is there anybody else in the neighbourhood?" I asked Larry.

"No, it's just us." Larry shook his head as his wife entered the hallway, glancing at us fearfully.

"Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" She asked, looking up at the ceiling, half expecting it to collapse above them.

"Call 911," Larry told her, but Joanie didn't move a muscle, she merely stared at him in shock, "Joanie!"

"Ok." She managed, picking up a phone and dialling three numbers.

"I need towels." Dean looked at Larry expectantly, he frowned but pointed to a cupboard.

"Uh, in the closet." He answered, Dean nodded and walked away.

"Ok, we've gotta lock this place up, come on – doors, windows, fireplace, everything, ok?" Sam looked at Matt, he nodded and led him upstairs, Sam took one step before he looked back at me, "Come on, Steph." He called, I nodded and quickly followed.

"Phones are dead." Joanie stated as she and Larry climbed the stairs after us.

"They must have chewed through the phone lines," I muttered, listening to the loud and murderous buzzing that pounded the walls of the house, the lights and electrics suddenly snapped off and I sighed as we were plunged into darkness, "And the power lines." I gave a thin smile.

"I need my cell." Larry's voice came through the dark, and suddenly a light flicked on from his hand and shone on his face, "No signal." He sighed, putting the phone away.

"Sam, torch." I called out, there was a rustling and suddenly Sam's torch clicked on, the beam surveyed the room, Sam checked that everyone was present.

"Yeah, you won't get a signal. They're blanketing the house." Dean shrugged, coming up beside me. The air shifted around me and I frowned, the buzzing noise moved and suddenly became based on around the doors and the windows, Sam shone his beam on the nearest window and it showed a million bugs collecting on the glass, obscuring the view of Oasis Plains.

"So, what do we do now?" Larry asked us.

"We try to outlast it," Sam shrugged, "Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise."

"Hopefully?" Larry echoed, Dean tugged on my arm and I followed him to the kitchen, he began searching through the cabinets and I frowned at him through the half light.

"What are you looking for?" I asked him.

"Bug spray." He answered simply, I nodded and began to help him search, rifling through the cabinets and throwing stuff around carelessly. "Alright." Dean smiled when he found two of them, he threw one to me and I nodded and tore the lid off just as Joanie entered the room and looked at us doubtfully.

"Bug spray?" She asked, eyeing the cans uncertainly.

"Trust us." I told her with a small smile, we moved back into the living room where Sam, Larry and Matt were, a creaking noise was coming from the direction of the fireplace.

"What is that?" Matt asked, Sam's torchbeam was trained on the fireplace.

"The flue." He responded tiredly.

"Alright, I think everybody needs to get upstairs-." Dean was cut off as thousands of insects broke through into the living room, swarming around us, the family screamed and tried to shield themselves. The bugs crawled around on my skin and in my hair, I flinched and moved my hand, bringing up a solid shield of air to protect myself, a little way away, Dean was using a lighter and spraying the repellent on the bugs, warding some away. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, past caring of being noticed by the normal people, I sprayed the repellent and aimed it aggressively on the insects that were flying around the room. "Alright, everybody upstairs, now! Go, go, go!" Dean ordered, Sam led the family up the stairs up into the attic, whilst Dean and I stayed in the living room.

"I can try and stop this!" I called to him, spraying as many bugs as possible, Dean turned and shook his head.

"No, I can't let you do that!" He shouted, but I shrugged.

"Dean, I can do this. I can use the air to put up a shield!" I explained, flinching again as the bugs flew a little too close for comfort near my ear.

"But what about the ones already in here?" Dean called back and I shrugged again.

"It doesn't matter now." I replied, Dean narrowed his eyes and shook his head furiously, running over and grabbing my arm, he dragged me up the stairs as the bugs flew up after us, we reached the attic and slammed the doors shut behind us. Matt, Larry and Joanie were huddled in a corner of the dark room, Sam stood over them with his torch in hand. Bits of sawdust fell from the ceiling and the buzzing of the insects amplified above us, Joanie looked up, her face pale and her eyes red rimmed with tears.

"Oh, God, what's that?" She cried out hysterically.

"Something's eating through the wood." Dean explained woodenly, glancing up at the ceiling worriedly.

"Termites." Matt whispered and I groaned.

"Alright, everybody get back. Get back, get back, get back!" Dean ordered, herding everyone as far away from the falling sawdust as possible, I stayed where I was and licked my lips, raising my hands and rotating it, just like Skulduggery had taught me. I moved the air and pushed it up against the roof, but not snapping my palms out so the air wouldn't break through the roof. The roof fell away and the bugs appeared in a chewed out hole on the roof, buzzing furiously against the wall of air I had put there.

"What is she doing?" Joanie screamed out in fear, but I didn't answer, just held my hand up and held the shield in place.

"Steph? Steph!" Dean called to me and I looked over to him a smile on my face.

"I told you I could do it." I rolled my eyes and he gaped at me, an impressed gleam in his eyes. Suddenly the buzzing moved away and sawdust began trickling from another part of the roof and I shot him a fearful glance, "Dean, I can't do this twice!" I told him, getting tired. The roof fell away and the bugs swarmed into the room, I swore and stepped back, throwing the repellent can to Sam and clicking my fingers and firing a continuous stream of flames at the waves of insects, over the loud humming, Joanie was screaming and I fought the urge to scream at her to shut up. I blinked drowsily as I forced my energy into my magic, keeping the flames going. When they cut out I backed away, moving to protect the family as Sam and Dean used their bug spray and lighters for makeshift flamethrowers, as a last ditch effort I moved the air and moved another shield up around the family and I, but it was fading fast. When the air shield failed I gave up and tore off my jacket, throwing it around the three of them. After a few more minutes of frantic swatting at the bugs, they suddenly swarmed together and flew out of the holes in the roof that they had made, disappearing off into the sky. I walked on shaky legs to the centre of the room, joining the brothers as we watched the insects, fade away into the morning sky. I sighed tiredly and leant on Dean he threw the can away and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, we looked back at the family as they peeked out from underneath my jacket.

Later that day, we dropped by the house to find two removal vans outside Larry's house, Larry himself was loading boxes into the back of one of the vans. "What, no goodbye?" Dean called out as we approached him, Larry turned and gave us a warm smile.

"Good timing, Another hour and we'd have been gone." Larry told us, shaking each of our hands.

"For good?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found, But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again." Larry replied and I tilted my head at him.

"You don't seem too upset about it." I observed, Larry looked at me and shrugged.

"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." Larry's gaze flickered behind him and I saw Matt exiting the house carrying a box, "...Somehow, I really don't care." He smiled and I grinned back at him. Sam walked over to Matt and began talking to him, whilst Dean walked back to the car, I went to follow but Larry suddenly grabbed my arm. "Those things you did in the attic," He said, "The fire throwing, and the – the shields you made, how did you do it?" He asked me, I looked at him for a moment before shrugging.

"If I told you, nine out of ten times you wouldn't believe me, Larry. Let's just say that this world you live in, it isn't the only world out there that exists." I told him with a small smile, Larry frowned in deep and sudden confusion and I prised myself away from him, leaving him alone with his thoughts and walking over to Dean, I leant against him tiredly and watched as Sam and Matt laughed together.

"Tired?" Dean asked, looking down at me, I yawned and nodded.

"Exhausted." I answered, he chuckled moved some stray hair from my face gently.

"Well, you should be – you were using the air to make shields less than six hours ago." He smiled and I shrugged.

"It helped save Larry and his family." I answered with another yawn, "Uh, I need sleep." I groaned, burying myself into Dean's jacket, hiding from the bright sunlight.

"Ok, ok. We'll be leaving soon, Sam's coming over now." Dean chuckled and I risked a peek from beyond his leather jacket, Sam was approaching us with a determined expression on his face.

"I wanna find Dad." He said as stopped beside us.

"Yeah, me too." Dean nodded.

"Yeah, but I just... I want to apologise to him." Sam looked a little guilty.

"For what?" Dean asked.

"All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could." Sam answered, sighing a ittle.

"Well, don't worry. We'll find him. And then you'll apologise, he'll meet Steph, and within five minutes, you two will be at eachother's throats." Dean responded and Sam laughed,

"Yeah, probably," He caught my eye and frowned, "Should we get in the car?"

"Yeah, Steph's ready to pass out in the back." Dean nodded, opening the back door and helping me into the car, once I was safely in Dean got in the driver's seat beside Sam, the three of us sat in silence for a few moments before Sam cleared his throat.

"Let's hit the road." He suggested and Dean nodded.

"Let's." He agreed.

"Finally," I moaned sleepily, "If we have to do any other cases which so much as _mention _bugs. I'm gonna scream." The boys chuckled and we pulled away quickly, Sam opened the window and waved back to Larry and Matt, I was too tired to wave, and simply got into a comfy position and closed my eyes, welcoming the sleep that overwhelmed me in seconds.

**Author's Note: This took m to write, guys! And technically it **_**is **_**up before the book comes out, but these chapters do take time. Alright, you all know the drill: let's say mmm... 50 reviews for the next update. I know I'm gonna lose some viewer because this time tomorrow they're going to have their heads stuck in the final instalment of the Skulduggery Pleasant series. Enjoy the chapter guys and also enjoy the book! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: So, The Dying Of The Light was published yesterday, I didn't think I could but I managed to get my hands on one of those beautiful black editions of the book, and today I met Derek Landy for the second time today in Ringwood! Yes, if you were there, I was among you, although I was the fourth person in the queue so you might have glimpsed me, you might not have. Who knows? Today at eight o'clock this evening I read the last words of the Skulduggery Pleasant series... I've only just managed to stop crying... Instead of confronting my feelings I decided to bury myself into writing this chapter, so if you manage to tear your eyes away from Valkyrie and Skulduggery's last adventure, please enjoy this chapter! (Started writing on 29/08/2014)**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 9 – Home

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean was busy tapping away at the laptop in the grubby hotel room, I was sat opposite him staring into the bland cup of coffee, waiting for myself to wake up. Sam was at a separate table at the far wall of the room, he was leaning on his hands and was absorbed in a notepad. "Alright, I've been cruising some websites. I think I found a few candidates for our next gig," Dean said, I looked up at him with tired eyes.

"Anything, just so long as it doesn't have any bugs or gross things in it." I shuddered, remembering our last job as if it was yesterday.

"Well, there's a fishing trawler that was found off the coast of Cali and the crew had vanished. And, uh, we got some cattle mutilations in West Texas," He looked up from the screen, rubbing his eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry – am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?" He glared at Sam and I turned to see that the boy hadn't even looked up from what he was doing in the notepad.

"No. I'm listening, keep going." Sam muttered, but it was obvious he was distracted, I turned back to Dean and raised an eyebrow, he shook his head and looked back down at the screen.

"There's also one where a Sacramento man shot himself in the head. Three times." He looked up again and I nodded.

"That sounds like one we'd need to take a look at, I think-."

Dean cut me off my pointing to his brother, I turned to see he was completely oblivious to what we were saying. I used the air and it ruffled against Sam's dark shaggy hair, he jumped and looked at us. "Any of these things blowing up your skirt, pal?" Dean teased and I smirked.

"Nope, just his hair." I laughed, Sam looked up at us and opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly looked down at his notepad.

"Hang on, I've seen this!" He exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and grabbing the notepad, a pencil fell to the floor and I frowned at it.

"This whole time you've been... drawing?" I asked him, giving him an odd look.

"Yeah, this has been in my head since last night..." Sam trailed off and grabbed his duffel bag.

"What has?" Dean frowned at his brother as Sam rifled frantically through his bag, "What are you doing?" He asked, Sam didn't reply when he found what he was looking for, he held up a photo and began comparing his drawing with it. I craned my neck and glimpsed Sam was comparing his sketch of a tree with a photo of a dark haired man stood with a blonde woman, at the man's right there was a small boy clutching at his leg, the blonde woman was holding a bundle wrapped up in white blankets, they all shared the same beaming expression.

"Guys, I know where we have to go next." Sam turned back to us.

"Where?" I asked him as Dean and I stood up from the table and crossed the room to him.

"Back home – back to Kansas." Sam answered my question, but his eyes were on Dean as he spoke, the older brother paused for a moment before he answered.

"Okay, random," Dean smirked at Sam, but I sensed that the expression was forced, "Where'd that come from?"

Sam gave his brother the photo and the notepad, "Alright, um, this photo was taken in front of our old house, right?" He said as Dean compared the pictures, now I had a closer view to the photo I could see the similarities between the boy and the man.

"Those are your parents?" I realised, looking up at the boys.

"Yeah, that's me, Sam is the little guy in Mum's arms, and that's Dad." Dean explained pointing to each person in turn, "This is our old house in Lawrence."

"Right, right." I murmured, pretending I knew where Lawrence was.

"Anyway, this is the house where Mum died, right?" Sam continued, Dean's breath hitched in his throat beside me and I looked at him, concerned.

"Yeah." Dean nodded, his voice quiet.

"And it didn't burn down, right? I mean, not completely, they rebuilt it, right?" Sam gabbled, speaking in fast, almost unintelligible tones.

"I guess so, yeah," Dean nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "What the hell are you talking about?" His voice suddenly became dejected.

"Ok, look, this is gonna sound crazy, but... the people who live in our old house – I think they might be in danger." Sam explained, I looked up from the photo and frowned at him.

"Why would you think that?" I asked him.

"Uh... it's just, um... look, just trust me on this, ok?" Sam fumbled, nervously playing with his hands as he walked away from Dean and I, we exchanged a look and frowned.

"Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean and I walked over.

"Yeah, Sam. Hold up, what do you mean 'trust you'?" I asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder, Sam turned slowly and face us.

"I mean trust me, Steph." He answered shortly, shrugging my hand off.

"Come on, man, that's weak," Dean sighed, "You gotta give us a little more than that."

"I can't really explain it." Sam hedged and I crossed my arms.

"Sam, you have to tell us what's going on." I told him.

Beside me Dean nodded in agreement, "Steph's right, Sam, start spilling."

Sam heaved a long sigh, and Dean and I waited expectantly for him to start, "I have these nightmares." He started.

"We've noticed." Dean nodded with a slight eye roll.

"And sometimes..." Sam looked down at the floor, "They come true." He breathed and my eyes widened.

"What did you say?" I asked, stunned.

"Look, guys... I dreamt about Jessica's death – for days before it happened." Sam looked back up at us, his shaggy hair falling across his face, but noone cared.

"Sam, people have weird dreams, man. I'm sure it's just a coincidence." Dean sighed and sat down on his bed.

"No, I dreamt about the – the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything. And I didn't do anything about it 'cause I didn't believe it." Sam argued, shaking his head at us, "And now I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for hep. I mean, that's where it all started, guys, this has to mean something... right?"

I ran a hand through my long dark hair frustratedly, "I don't know." I told him truthfully, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden news Sam had revealed, "So what, you're saying you're psychic?"

"I don't know." Sam echoed my previous answer, he walked over to where Dean was sat and collapsed on the bead opposite his brother, "Dean, this woman might be in danger. I mean, this might be the thing that killed Mum and Jessica." He looked up at his brother, his dark eyes wide and searching.

"Alright, just slow down, would ya?" Dean stood up quickly and crossed the room, away from Sam. "I mean, first you tell us that you've got the Shining? And then you say we gotta go back home? Especially when..." Dean caught himself and trailed off, looking away out the window, where the early morning traffic was sounding loudly on the streets below.

"When what?" Sam asked, looking at his brother expectantly.

"When I swore to myself I would never go back there." Dean answered, his voice suddenly quiet.

Sam sighed and I looked away awkwardly, feeling like I was intruding on their personal family business, "Look, Dean, we have to check this out. Just to make sure." Sam reasoned.

Dean was quiet for a moment, I reached out and lightly touched his arm. He looked down at my hand for a long time before he looked back up at us, "I know we do."

The drive to Kansas was long and the quiet, the tension was thick in the air the whole drive over. Dean didn't even play any of his music to ease the silence, he just gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead at the road. Sam was no better: he kept his focus on his family photo and the drawing he had done, his fingers traced lightly over the dark outlines of his sketch. I clicked my fingers and summoned a small flame, I stared into it and watched as it danced prettily around my palm, wondering what everyone was doing back home.

_Ireland _

"Skulduggery, it's been over two months, you have to move on." Ghastly spoke to the skeleton in a soft tone, his friend had been very, very quiet since Valkyrie Cain's disappearance. The whole faculty of Roarhaven Sanctuary had suffered the blow hard enough, but Skulduggery had taken it the worst. I the first few weeks he had tried anything, everything to retrieve Valkyrie, he had hunted down shunters and demanded answers, demanding to know how to save his partner. But they had all answered the same: Valkyrie was gone, and there was no way to get her back.

"I know how long it's been." The skeleton tilted his head and looked at Ghastly with hollow, dark sockets.

"Then why can't you accept it? We mourned and we moved on, like a friend falling in battle." Ghastly's eyes narrowed in concern at his friend.

"Because I can get her back, there must be something we missed, something we overlooked. All we -."

"Skulduggery, as your friend: I'm telling you _please _stop this... this obsession you've made. It's unhealthy." Ghastly cut him off, his voice no longer quiet and reserved.

"She's not gone. This is _Valkyrie _we're talking about, and she's not going down without a fight. She's stubborn like that." Skulduggery spoke slowly, and his voice was quiet. Ghastly stared at his friend before he slowly backed out the room and closed the door, sighing and shaking his head as he walked away.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I looked up as the car slowed down outside a house, I recognised the tree outside that stood proudly in Sam's photo. It didn't look so proud anymore: it's branches looked withered and slightly grey, the bark had peeled off at the trunk and dead branches had broken away and lay defeated at the foot of the tree. "You gonna be alright, man?" Sam broke the silence, glancing at his brother worriedly.

"Let me get back to you on that." Dean sighed, looking up at the house. We quietly exited the car and slowly made our way up to the porch of the house. The boys exchanged a glance when we reached the door, neither moved to knock upon the surface, after another ten seconds I reached out and rapped my knuckles against the door four times. There was movement from inside the house and a blonde woman who looked to be about in her late twenties to early thirties, her blonde hair was tied back and her brown eyes were dull and tired.

"Yes?" The woman asked, looking at each of us in turn.

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Federal-." Dean started to say.

"I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother, Dean and this is Stephanie. Dean and I used to live here, you know. We were just driving by and we were wondering if we could some see the old place, maybe show Steph." Sam cut his brother off and gave the woman a wide smile.

"Winchester. Yeah, that's so funny. I think I found some of your photos the other night." The woman tilted her head and smiled faintly.

"You did?" Dean asked in surprise.

The woman nodded and stepped aside, "I'm Jenny, would you like to come in?" She asked, we nodded and stepped over the threshold of the house and walked through to find the kitchen. A girl with shoulder-length dark hair was sat at the table doing what looked to be homework, she didn't look up as we walked into the room. At the end of the room a toddler was bouncing up and down in his playpen, his hands wrapped tightly around the bars.

"Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!" The toddler chanted, beaming at his Mother.

"That's Ritchie, he's kind of a juice junkie," Jenny explained, giving her son a loving smile as she walked over to the fridge and opened it, she bought out an orange sippy cup with a blue R printed on it, the toddler laughed cheerily when Jenny handed it to him. "But, hey, at least he won't get scurvy," Jenny ruffled Ritchie's hair affectionately and then turned and walked over to the girl sat at the table, "Sari, this is Sam, Dean and Stephanie. Sam and Dean used to live here." The girl finally looked up and tilted her head at us.

"Hi." Sari greeted, Dean waved and I gave her a smile.

"Hey, Sari." Sam replied.

"So, you just moved in?" I asked, turning to Jenny.

"Yeah, from Wichita." Jenny nodded.

"You got family here or...?" Dean queried.

"No. I just, uh... needed a fresh start, that's all," Jenny's smile faded a little and she looked over to her kids, "So, new town, new job – I mean, as soon as I find one. New house." She ended with a small sigh, looking at the painted white walls.

"So, how you liking it so far?" Sam asked, leaning against the table.

"Well, uh, all due respect to your childhood home – I mean, I'm sure you had lots of happy memories here," Jenny glanced at Sam with a faintly apologetic look in her eyes, I glanced at Dean and saw he was smiling weakly back at the girl, "But this place has issues." Jenny admitted.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, innocently widening my eyes.

"Well, it's just getting old. Like the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly." Jenny replied, glancing up at the lights.

"Oh, that's too bad. What else?" Dean asked.

"Um... sink's backed up, there's rats in the basement," Jenny paused and gave a small smile, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to complain." She apologised quickly.

"No, it's fine," Dean shrugged, unoffended, "Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?"

"It's just the scratching, actually." Jenny answered.

"Mum?" Sari piped up, Jenny shot me a smile and walked over to her daughter, crouching beside her, "Ask them if it was here when they lived here."

"What, Sari?" Sam looked at the girl with a kind look in his eyes.

"The thing in my closet." Sari answered, Jenny edged a smile.

"Oh, no, baby, there was nothing in their closets," She laughed and looked up at the boys, "Right?"

"Right, No, no, of course not." Sam forced a chuckle, and shook his head.

"I wasn't dreaming. It came into my bedroom – and it was on fire." Sari shook her head, I looked up at the brother's and saw they shared the same shocked expressions.

We were walking back to Dean's car in silence until Sam whipped round, "You hear that? A figure on fire." He said, pointing back to the house.

"And that woman, Jenny, she was the woman from your, uh, your dream?" I asked, glancing back at the house a little dubiously.

"Yeah. And did you hear what she was talking about? The scratching, flickering lights – both signs of a malevolent spirit." He replied.

"Yeah, well, I'm just freaked out that your wierdo visions are comin' true." Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes, suddenly tired.

"Well, forget about that for a minute. The thing in in the house, do you think it'd the thing that killed Mum and Jessica?"Sam asked us, his tone suddenly became panicked.

"I don't know!" Dean snapped in response, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Guys, guys, calm down." I warned, glancing at the people staring at the three of us, Sam sighed and we got in the car quickly and quietly.

"Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?" Sam asked as soon as the car doors were closed, cutting off the gawking glares from the public.

"Don't forget, it could be something else entirely, Sam, we just don't know what yet." I reminded him gently.

"Whatever, those people are in danger all the same. We have to get them out of that house." Sam said, putting his seatbelt on and giving the house another fearful glance.

"And we will." Dean nodded, giving Sam a reassuring look.

"No, I mean now." Sam shook his head, unconvinced.

"Yeah, well do tell, how are you gonna do that Sam? Do you have a story she's likely to believe?" I asked him, rolling my eyes.

Sam stared at me for a few moments before he sighed in defeat, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"First things first, we need gas." Dean said, turning the keys in the engine and pulling away sharply from the house.

At the gas station, we all got out and leant against the car whilst Dean filled up the tank. The sunshine shone brightly overhead, and I took off my jacket to appreciate the heat on my arms, "We just need to chill out, that's all. You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?" Dean broke the silence, Sam heaved a sigh before answering.

"We'd try to figure out what we're dealing with – we'd dig into the history of the house." Sam answered.

"Exactly, except this time, we already know what happened." Dean replied, but I frowned.

"Yeah, but how much do you two _actually _know? I mean, you were both kids when it happened, right? There's only so much you'd be able to remember." I piped up.

"You mean about that night?" Dean asked and I nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"Not much," He admitted, "I remember the fire... the heat," Dean paused for a moment, his eyes fixed on something in the distance, "And then I carried Sammy out the door."

"You did?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yeah. What, you never knew that?" Dean looked up at Sam.

"No." He answered truthfully, shaking his head.

"And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mum was... was on the ceiling, and whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her." Dean said, his voice cracking mournfully.

"And he never had a theory about what did it?" I asked.

Dean shrugged, "If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times."

"Ok, so if we're gonna figure out what's going on now we have to figure out what happened back then... and see if if it's the same thing." Sam said, running a hand through his shaggy locks.

"Yeah. We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbours, people who were there at the time." Dean nodded in agreement.

There was a pause.

"Does this feel like just another job to you?" Sam asked, breaking the silence, I glanced at the younger brother but didn't answer.

"I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom." Dean cleared his throat and walked away, Sam sighed once his brother was out of earshot.

"Are there psychics in where you're from?" Sam asked.

I stared at him for a long moment, "What?"

"Psychics, you know: seers and stuff." He continued, I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, it's an adept ability. We call them Sensitives though." I answered quietly, thinking about the kind old Cassandra Pharos and the peculiar, skinny tattooist Finbar Wrong.

"And they have visions, yeah?" He asked again.

"Yep, although everything's... different in this place." I sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain... this place is the same, but it's also completely different at the same time. There's no one else like me, but there's monsters and vengeful spirits? I just – I don't get it. And now you're psychic? It makes no sense." I answered, my words tumbling out of my mouth in a rush.

"Nothing ever does." Sam scoffed and looked down at the ground again, lost in his own thoughts. My own eyes wandered the landscape until they fell upon my black jacket, I clutched it to my chest and shut my eyes, remembering Ghastly presenting it to me and the amount of times it had saved me against countless gunshots and energy streams. I took in a deep breath and remembered how normal everything had been, and how _abnormal _everything had been, playing with Alice one minute and then arresting criminals the next. Everything had been just the way it should be. And now... now it was truly... awful. The sound of stones skittering over the concrete floor made me look up, it was Dean, he was putting his phone back into his pocket and he was rubbing his eyes.

"Let's go." He announced curtly, before he got in the car and started the engine, Sam and I exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Dean pulled away abruptly, so quickly I clung onto the headrest of Sam's seat.

"Guenther's Auto Repair." He answered tersely.

"So you and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?" Dean asked.

Yeah, we used to, a long time ago. Matter of fact, it must be, uh... twenty years since John disappeared... So why the cops interested all of a sudden?" The man looked to be in his mid-fifties, with thinning dark hair and a lined face with old, grey eyes.

"Oh, we're reopening some of our unsolved cases, and the Winchester disappearance is one of them." I lied quickly, smoothing down the sides of my formal outfit self-consciously. It was the same dress I had worn when we had to be Homeland Security with the plane crash, I hadn't liked it then and I didn't like it now.

"Oh, well, what do you wanna know about John?" The man shrugged.

"Well, whatever you remember, you know, whatever sticks out in your mind." Dean said with a small smile.

"Well," The man scratched absent-mindedly at the rough stubble around his jaw, "He was a stubborn bastard, I remember that," He chuckled slightly and I forced a smile, "And, uh, whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It's that whole marine thing." Sam and Dean nodded once, "But, oh, he sure loved Mary – and he doted on those kids." He breathed, shaking his head at the memory of it, I glanced at the boys and saw they were staring at the man intently.

"But that was before the fire?" Sam asked.

"That's right." The man nodded.

"He ever talk about that night?" Sam continued.

"No, not at first. I think he was in shock." The owner of the repair garage shook his head and I tilted my own.

"Right, but eventually? What did he say about it?" I asked him.

"Oh... he wasn't thinkin' straight," The man took off his battered blue cap and looked down at it sadly, "He said somethin' caused that fire and killed Mary."

"He ever say what did it?" Dean took over our inquiring.

"Nothin' did it. It was an accident – an electrical short in the ceiling or walls or somethin'. I begged him to get some help, but..."

"But what?" I pressed.

"Oh, he just got worse and worse." The owner shrugged, putting his cap back on.

"How?" Dean asked.

"Oh, he started readin' these strange ol' books. He started goin' to see this palm reader in town." The man answered, looking down at one of his own wrinkled palm.

"Palm reader," Sam repeated, "Uh, do you have a name?"

"No." The owner scoffed, his eyes wandered over my shoulder and focused something behind me, I turned and saw a man standing there, "If you can excuse me, officers, I have customers to get back to." He cleared his throat.

I nodded and gave him an understanding smile, "Uh, sure, sure. Thank you for time, sir."

We drove to the nearest payphone and waited outside whilst Sam flicked through the faded pages of a phonebook. "Alright, so there are a few psychics and palm readers in town. There's someone named El Divino. There's, uh-" Sam laughed suddenly, "- There's the Mysterious Mister Fortinsky. Uh, Missouri Moseley-."

"Wait, wait. Missouri Moseley?" Dean asked, interrupting his brother.

"What?" Sam asked, looking up from the book.

"That's a psychic?" He asked.

"Uh..." Sam looked back down at the book again, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." He nodded in confirmation. Dean stepped away and walked around the car, he opened the driver's door and leaned in.

He walked back over with his Dad's journal in his hands, "In Dad's journal..." Dean trailed off, opening it and paging through it, "Here, look at this," He tapped the page and held it out, I leaned over and read what he was pointing to, there was a list of names written in hastily scrawled handwriting, and just above Dean's fingernail there was the name Missouri Moseley. "First page, first sentence, read that."

I took the book from his hands and glanced over the text, "'I went to Missouri and learned the truth'..." I trailed off and looked up at him, "The truth, as in, monsters and ghosts?"

"I guess so, whenever I read that I thought he meant Missouri as in the state." Dean shrugged.

The three of us were sat on a prim leather couch in the office of Madame Missouri, we sat in silence listening to the ridiculously loud ticking of the clock. A door opened and an ageing woman with wild, frizzy hair and several bangles on her wrist emerged with a man. "Alright there, don't you worry 'bout a thing. Your wife is crazy about you," She assured him as she escorted him out, the man nodded his thanks and walked out, glancing at the three of us before he left, "Whew. Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener." Missouri gave us a smile as she looked over the three of us.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked her in confusion.

"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news," She shrugged, we stared at her in disbelief, "Well? Sam, Dean, Stephanie, come on already. I ain't got all day." She chuckled and walked back into the door she had just exited, I gave the boys a confused glance and they both shrugged in response, I sighed and followed the old woman slowly. Psychics always gave me the creeps, they had this uncanny ability to make me feel uncomfortable. "Well, lemme look at ya," She said as we entered the room, I looked away as she peered at Sam and Dean, "Oh, you boys grew up handsome," She laughed and gave us a dreamy smile, then she pointed at Dean, "And you were one goofy-lookin' kid." Dean's eyes narrowed whilst Sam and I smirked, "Sam." The woman grabbed the tall boy's hand, "Oh, honey... I'm sorry about your girlfriend." She gave him a sad, apologetic look whilst the three of us returned it with a perplexed one. She dropped Sam's shocked hand and grabbed onto my wrist, I tried to snatch it away but Missouri had a tight grip, I narrowed my eyes and moved my fingers to snap them and create a spark. "Stephanie, don't you go snappin' those little fingers of yours, now." The woman warned and I froze, staring up at her in surprise, "We don't want no fires in here on a day like this now, do we?" She smiled and dropped my wrist, I pulled it back to myself slowly, not taking my eyes off the seer's face. My eyes dropped down to my wrist and I rubbed it in wonder, and the woman gave a chuckle, "Awww, just look at her! Taken from her world and quick to fit in with you two... although I sense your loss, Valkyrie, you miss everyone dearly. And I'm sorry, that Shunter is passed, ain't no way for you to get back to your home." She explained, I stayed very, very still as I absorbed this: _no way to get home?_

"So that's it then?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"'Fraid so," She nodded, "But look at what you're doing now, honey. It's the same as before, just new people."

"Stop talking." I shook my head and stepped away from her, backing up to the wall and glaring at her.

She shrugged and looked at Sam and Dean, "Well, she took it better than most, I guess. But you're not here for Valkyrie, are you? Your father – he's missin'?" She asked, my eyes narrowed further when she mentioned my other name, and I fought the urge to hit her. "Now, now. If you hit me, Valkyrie Cain, I won't go helpin' your boys." She looked at me and my eyes widened, but I didn't reply.

"How'd you do all that?" Sam asked, looking at the woman in awe.

"Well, you were thinking about your dear ol' daddy, Dean here was thinking about... boy, you stop thinking about your girl in such lewd images," She slapped Dean over the head and my cheeks burned, Dean grinned and I fought a smile, "Stephanie herself is... clouded," She admitted, a frown creased her forehead and she looked over to me, my smile faded, "Girl, you got one dark self locked away in that pretty head of yours, you best be treading carefully." She warned and I rolled my eyes: I had no intention of letting Darquesse escape, besides, Dean and I had a promise.

"Anyway, where's our Dad? Is he ok?" Sam asked, pulling the conversation over to the problem at hand.

"I don't know." Missouri answered.

"Don't know?" Dean echoed and frowned, "You're supposed to be psychic, right?"

"Boy, you see me sawin' some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please." Her tone lightened and she indicated to three chairs that were positioned in the centre of the room, the boys sat down and I moved over, but stayed standing. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm 'a whack you with a spoon!" She suddenly snapped at Dean, her smile vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

"I didn't do anything." Dean protested and Missouri glared.

"But you were thinkin' about it." She answered, Dean glanced up at me for help but all I offered him was a smirk.

"Ok. So, our Dad – when did you first meet him?" Sam asked.

"He came for a reading. A few days after the fire. I just told him what was _really _out there in the dark. I guess you could say... I drew back the curtains for him." She answered, the three of us gave her another round of shocked looks but she didn't bat an eyelid.

"What about the fire? Do you know what killed our Mum?" Dean asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"A little. Your Daddy took me to your house. He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing." Missouri nodded slowly.

"And could you?" I asked, looking at the woman in sudden interest: she had such an... intriguing talent.

"I..." The woman trailed off with a shake of her head and I frowned.

"What was it?" Sam asked her.

"I don't know," Missouri answered in a soft tone, "Oh, but it sure was evil."

Sam glanced at Dean, his eyes wide and brimmed with fear. I glanced at the woman and stared at her for the longest of moments, trying to see if she was just over-.

"Stephanie, honey, I'm not over-exaggerating. So you can just stop with your thoughts right there." Missouri locked eyes with me and my mouth dropped open in surprise. She grinned wryly at me and then turned to the boys, "So... you think somethin' is back in that house?"

"Definitely." Sam nodded once in confirmation.

"I don't understand." The seer frowned, glancing down at the floor.

"What?" The younger Winchester leaned forward in his seat.

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?" She replied, glancing up at us.

"We don't know," Sam shrugged, but with Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once... it just feels like something's starting."

"_That's_ a comforting thought." Dean muttered sarcastically.

We drove back to the boys' old house with Missouri, she sat in the back next to me but I didn't strike a conversation up with her: she bought a weird awkwardness with her and it settled in the air like a thick, unwelcome fog. Sam knocked on the door to the house and we waited patiently for Jenny to open it, when she did finally open it we were greeted with an exhausted lady, with red rimmed eyes and flustered red cheeks, she had her son balanced on her hip. "Sam, Dean, Stephanie," She forced a smile, "What are you going here?"

"Hey, Jenny. This is our friend, Missouri." Sam returned the girl a smile and gestured to the seer.

If it's not too much trouble, we were hoping to show her the old house. You know, for old time's sake." Dean said.

Jenny pulled a face and shifted her weight under Richie, "You know, this isn't a good time. I'm kind of busy."

"Listen, Jenny, it's important." Dean pressed, edging forward towards the door, Missouri sighed and smacked her hand over Dean's head again, "Ow!" He protested, turning to her with a pained expression.

"Give the poor girl a break, can't you see she's upset?" She chastened, then turned to Jenny with a bright smile on her face, "Forgive this boy, he means well, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed. But hear me out." She tried, Dean rubbed the back of his head, stunned, and shot me a look. I shrugged helplessly in return then looked back at Jenny.

"About what?" Jenny looked at the seer suspiciously.

"About this house." Missouri replied.

"What are you talking about?" Jenny attempted a scoff, but it sounded feeble and strained, she glanced at Sam and I uneasily as she tightened her grip on her son.

"I think you know what I'm talking about. You think there's something in this house, something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?" Missouri asked her, her eyes hardened a little as she tried to convince the single mother.

"Who are you?" Jenny asked, narrowing her eyes.

"We're people who can help, who can stop this thing. But you're gonna have to trust us, just a little." The seer replied, unaffected by the suspicious look Jenny was giving her.

Jenny glanced at us again, her face still unsure. I thought she was going to turn us away but she held the door open and stepped aside, clutching her child in her hands, "Come on in." She told us, I nodded in thanks as we passed through. Missouri went straight for the stairs and climbed them, urgency in her pace. Sam glanced at Dean and I and then followed, leaving Jenny downstairs. I followed the boys until we reached a room painted in pastel pink and had a singe bed with a pink and white duvet and pillows, a mirror with pink and purple butterflies surrounding it was on top of a white painted dresser, a wardrobe was on the wall opposite the bed.

"If there's a dark energy around here, this room should be the centre of it." Missouri announced as we surveyed the bedroom.

"Why?" I asked her, frowning at the normality of it all: it was just a little girl's bedroom, nothing unusual.

"This used to be Sam's nursery. This is where it all happened." The woman answered, as if on instinct Sam glanced up at the ceiling, his eyes sad. Beside me Dean pulled out his EMF meter and turned it on, "That an EMF?" She asked him.

Dean nodded as he moved the meter out at arm's length, "Yeah."

"Amateur," She muttered scornfully, Dean whipped around and glared at her, I couldn't help but smirk, the EMF started beeping and Dean nudged me, my smirk disappeared as I looked down at the beeping meter, "I don't know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain't the thing that took your Mum." Missouri muttered, her eyes were closed as her head slowly tilted as she turned on the spot in the room.

"Wait, are you sure?" Sam asked, looking at the seer imploringly, Missouri nodded in response, "How do you know?"

"It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here. It's somethin' different." Missouri replied, opening her eyes as she finished her answer.

"What is it?" I asked her, knowing she would probably ignore Dean if he asked.

"Not it," The seer said, walking over to the wardrobe and flinging open the doors, "Them. There's more than one spirit in this place."

"What are they doing here?" Dean asked her.

"They're here because of what happened to your family. You see: all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds, and sometimes... wounds get infected."Missouri explained, I glanced at the boys and saw that Sam was frowning.

"I don't understand." He said confusedly.

"This place is a magnet for paranormal energy. It's attracted a poltergeist – a nasty one. And it won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead." Missouri answered, giving him a glance.

"But... you said there was more than one spirit." I pointed out.

"There is, I just can't quite make out the second one." She murmured, closing the wardrobe doors.

"Well, one thing's for damn sure – nobody's dying in this house ever again," Dean said firmly, "So whatever is here, how do we stop it?" He asked.

Back at Missouri's, Sam, Dean and I were sat around one of the seer's tables as she layed out different herbs and roots. "So what is all this stuff, anyway?" I asked, eyeing the different plants doubtfully.

"Angelica Root, Van Van oil, Crossroad dirt, a few other odds and ends." The psychic replied, pointing to each of the herbs in turn.

"Well, what are we supposed to do with it?" I asked her.

"We're gonna put them inside the walls in the north, south, east and west corners on each floor of the house." She explained.

Dean scoffed, "We'll be punching holes in the dry wall. Jenny's gonna _love _that." He rolled his eyes sarcastically at Missouri.

"She'll live." The seer replied slyly, looking at the older Winchester out of the corner of her eyes.

"And this'll destroy the spirits?" Sam asked, propping his elbows up on the table.

"It should," Missouri confirmed, "It should purify the house completely. Sam will take the ground, Dean and his girl'll take the second and I'll take the top. But we work fast, once the spirits realise what we're up to: things are gonna get bad."

The three of us watched from the doorway as Missouri walked Jenny and her kids outside, "Look, I'm not comfortable leaving you guys here alone." Jenny said, glancing back at us with an uncomfortable frown.

"Just take your kids to the movies or somethin', and it'll be over by the time you get back." The seer gave her an assuring smile as she practically shoved her out the gate. Jenny looked back at us again and I gave her a bright smile and a cheery wave. Missouri walked over to us and Sam handed her the toolbox, she opened it and took out two hammers. "Here ya go." She said, handing Sam the hammer and hefting her own one in a two-hand grip.

"Wait a second – what about ours?" Dean asked, frowning at the psychic.

"Well, I'm sure you don't need one. Your girl here'll punch through those walls with a little bit of that magic she got." Missouri responded, I shuddered slightly as we split up, when we reached the landing and the woman carried on upstairs I turned to Dean.

"She gives me the _creeps_." I told him in a hushed whisper, Dean cracked a smile.

"Yeah, me too. I don't know why she hates me so much – I've never met her in my life." Dean agreed with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, but most people hate you. I don't know why she has to go out of her way to make me so uncomfortable – everyone loves me." I shrugged.

"Sure, uh-huh. _Everyone _loves you." Dean rolled his eyes and pulled me in for a quick kiss, when we pulled apart I couldn't help but smile.

"Well, it worked on you, didn't it?" I giggled. The older Winchester faked a huge sigh and I saw a grin tugging at the ends of his mouth.

"Whatever. Come on, let's start with the north part." He suggested, wrapping his arm around my waist as he led me over to the far part of the second floor. Below us and above us there was a faint banging noise as Sam and Missouri broke through the walls. We reached the furthest wall and stopped at a point, "Go ahead." Dean pointed to a spot on the wall below a mirror. I drew in the shadows and gathered them around my fist, they curled and formed around my hand and I punched through the wall, my fist smashed through and the plaster crumbled. I smiled up at Dean and held out my hand for the herbs, he smiled back and his hand reached into his pocket. He suddenly crashed into me and we sprawled to the floor, I cried out in surprise as we slid and crashed against the skirting board. Dean scrambled up and grabbed a nearby coffee table.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he pulled the table towards us and positioned it to cover us, the sound of several things pining against the wood made me duck in instinct, when the bombarding subsided we both looked up cautiously. On the other side of the table a large amount of sharp kitchen knives had stabbed and pinned themselves on the table, completely covering the topside of the wood. We heard a crashing from downstairs and I glanced at Dean with fright, "Sam." I realised, concern flashed across Dean's features and he got to his feet, pulling me up and then sprinting towards the stairs, I followed hot on his heels as we clambered down to the ground floor. We found him downstairs lying on the kitchen floor weakly, a plug cord from a lamp was wrapped tightly around his throat.

"Sam!" Dean exclaimed, rushing over to him and trying to pry the cord off, but I saw how useless it was.

"Give me the herbs!" I demanded, holding my hand out, Dean turned and chucked the herbs towards me, his aim was off but I used the air to grab it, I then turned and used shadows to smash the wall, I flung the herb sack inside, there was a blinding white light and I raised my arm to sheild my eyes, the air shifted as I felt something fling frantically around the room. Suddenly the air stopped shifting wildly and I opened my eyes to find the light had faded, I whirled around to see Dean unravelling the cord gently from around his brother's neck and pulled him into a fierce hug. I sighed in relief and looked around the room to see the contents of the fridge had been spilled out over the white tile floor, broken bits of crockery littered the ground by the sink and a chair lay broken in the corner, even the curtains were shredded and torn. "Oh, wow." I muttered, looking back at the boys on the floor, Dean didn't let go of his brother but he looked up at me, I could see he couldn't care less what the state the kitchen was in.

Missouri joined us ten minutes later and we stood looking down at the mess of the room. "You sure this is over?" A much stronger Sam asked.

"I'm sure. Why? Why do you ask?" Missouri turned to Sam, for the first time ever she was frowning at him.

"Never mind," He sighed, "It's nothing, I guess."

Outside the room, a door shut and there were loud footsteps in the hallway, "Hello? We're home." Jenny called, the footsteps neared and she appeared in the doorway, her eyes widened as she looked around at the scene, "What happened?"

Sam and I exchanged a glance, "Hi, sorry. Um, we'll pay for all this." Sam stuttered.

"Don't you worry. Dean's gonna clean up this mess." Missouri told the distraught young mother, Dean stood there without a word and Missouri rolled her eyes at him, "Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Get the mop." She told him, swatting her hand in his direction. Dean sighed and walked out of the room, "And don't cuss at me!" She ordered, Dean stopped and muttered angrily under his breath before he exited the room, I caught Sam's eye and we shared a small smile.

Dean lasted two minutes of his cleaning until he started complaining, I lasted five minutes until I picked up a dustpan and brush and helped him sweep up the mess. Sam said he was still feeling light-headed after being almost choked to death to help clean, Dean promised we would punish him later. Jenny happily sent us away when the sun was starting to set, I was relieved to find the nearest motel and crash out with Dean, but Sam wanted us to stay and check to make sure everything was ok.

I eventually fell asleep in the backseat of the car after half an hour of watching the house with the boys, and then woke up two hours later. "Alright," Dean was saying, "So, tell me again: what are we still doing here?" He asked.

"I don't know. I just... I still have a bad feeling." Sam admitted, staring out the window at the house.

"Why? Missouri did her whole _Zelda Rubenstein _thing, the house should be clean, it should be over." Dean frowned.

"Yeah, well, probably. But I just wanna make sure, that's all." Sam shrugged, unaffected by his brother's strong glare.

"Yeah, but, problem is I could be sleeping with Steph in a bed right now." Dean sighed and I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for _that _mental image." Sam groaned and I couldn't help but grin, Dean looked out the window and Sam looked out of his. I closed my eyes and settled down for another bout of sleep.

"Dean. Look, Dean!" He cried, I looked and saw Jenny screaming at a window upstairs, the three of us rushed out of the car and we ran towards the house. I sprinted past them and forced open the door with the air, we heard Jenny screaming upstairs and I ran towards the stairs, but Dean grabbed my shoulders and hauled me back.

"You and Sam grab the kids, I'll get Jenny." He ordered, without waiting for a reply he bounded up the stairs. I glanced at Sam and he grabbed my hand, leading me into the kitchen and pointing to Richie, we was jumping up and down and trying to break open the bars of his pen with his little hands, only there wasn't a cheery smile on his face this time: anguish was scrunching up his face as he raged against the bars. I ran to the pen and picked up the screaming child, he wriggled in my arms so I gave him to Sam.

"I'll drop him otherwise, Alice never wriggled like that!" I told him, heading out the kitchen and leading the way up the stairs towards Sari's bedroom, it was when I was halfway up the stairs that I realised what I had said. I mentally shook myself and continued up towards Sari's room, telling myself to attend at the pressing matters at hand. We burst into Sari's room to find her screaming incoherently, I left Sam at the doorway and grabbed Sari from her bed, picking her up in my arms.

"Don't look! Don't look!" I told her, whispering into her ear comfortingly, once we were in the hallway I set Sari down, Sam set Richie down next to her.

"Alright, Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back." Sam told her, crouching down and looking at the girl with hard eyes. The air shifted behind us and I turned, expecting to see Dean and Jenny, but it was nothing, my eyes widened as the air shifted angrier and sharper. It suddenly snatched Sam and I from the air and pulled us back down the hallway, Sari screamed and ran off with Ritchie, it slammed Sam into the wall and I was thrown into the wall. I cracked up against it and I slumped to the floor painfully. I closed my eyes against the pain and when I reopened them, Sam was pinned up against the wall, unable to move.

"Sam!" I called weakly, my voice sounded distant and there was a ringing in my ears. I raised my hand and tried to use the air to prise him from the wall, but before I could motion to use the air the force slammed me sideways and into the wall beside Sam, I groaned as I felt my shoulder crunch and tried to move, but it was all in vain. The flame figure suddenly appeared and began to walk towards us, Sam was frowning at it whilst I was still struggling against the force, Dean suddenly burst into the room and aimed his gun at the fiery silhouette.

"No, don't! Don't" Sam suddenly called out to his brother.

"What, why?!" Dean frowned at Sam.

"Yeah, Sam! If you hadn't noticed we're pinned up against a wall and about to die!" I shouted, but Sam shook his head.

"Because I know who it is. I can see her now." Sam replied, suddenly, the fire vanished and a blonde woman in a white nightdress was stood there, she had big blue eyes and soft features. I glanced at Dean just as he was lowering his gun, a look of shock haunted his features.

"Mum?" Dean asked, his tone hollow, the woman smile and stepped over to her oldest son.

"Dean," She said, her voice full of emotion and warmth, tears formed in his eyes as Mary walked away from him and over to where Sam and I were still pinned up against the wall. Dean watched her, his eyes not leaving her. "Sam." She said, her blue gaze falling upon her youngest, Sam smiled weakly and tears fell down his cheeks, she then turned to me, "And Stephanie. I'm so happy to meet you," She told me, I managed to nod once, her smile faded as she looked back at Dean. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sam asked, mother Winchester glanced at Sam sadly but didn't respond, she walked close to me and leaned in to my ear.

"Please don't become _her_, and please protect my boys." She whispered, pulling away from me, I stared at the woman in shock but managed a weak smile.

"I will." I told her, she smiled back and walked back into the centre of the room and looked up at the ceiling.

"You get out of my house, and let go of my son and the girl." She said in a stern voice, then she was engulfed in flames and they roared and leapt up to the ceiling, the force suddenly disappeared and Sam and I slumped to the floor, there was a stabbing pain in my shoulder as I got up and tried to move it.

"Now it's over." Sam told us, I didn't say anything and leant against the wall tiredly.

"Steph, your shoulder." Dean looked at me and I nodded slowly.

"I know, I think it's dislocated." I groaned and pushed myself away from the wall, giving them a faint smile, "Anyone got any idea how to put it back?" I asked, Sam nodded and walked over to me, carefully peeling my jacket off, revealing my black skintight tunic underneath.

"Right on three, ok?" Sam asked, carefully putting his hands on my left shoulder.

"Ok, go." I told him, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Right, one-." Sam suddenly snapped it back into place and I cried out arching my back as I stepped away from him.

"Cheers." I groaned as I tested my left shoulder carefully, "Right, motel. Now." I told them, and walked out the room without another word.

Dean was stood with Jenny at his car whilst Sam and I were sat at the steps of the front porch in silence, my jacket was scrunched up in my lap as the sun rays warmed us. There were creaking footsteps and Missouri joined us, sitting down next to me. "Well, there are no spirits in there anymore, this time for sure." She said.

"Not even my Mum?" Sam asked.

"No." She shook her head, Sam sighed sadly.

"What happened?" I asked the psychic.

"Their Mum's spirit and the poltergeist's energy, they cancelled each other out. Their Mum destroyed herself goin' after the thing." She answered.

"But why? Why would she do something like that?" Sam asked, a frown on his features.

"Well, to protect her boys, of course... and Stephanie too." She shrugged, Mary Winchester's last words to me came up to my mind and I stiffened a little, Missouri's gaze switched to me and she narrowed her eyes at me, tilting her head slightly. I looked away and down at the ground, Missouri sighed and I felt her gaze move away from me, "Sam, I'm sorry." She said,

"For what?" Sam asked.

"You sensed it was here, didn't you? Even when I couldn't." Missouri observed.

"What's happening to me?" He replied, I could hear the slight waver of desperation in his tone.

"I know I should have all the answers, but I don't know." Missouri answered.

"Hey, you two ready?" Dean called, he way halfway down the path, Sam and I nodded and we got up from the porch. Sam walked away and I went to follow, but Missouri grabbed my hand.

"Now, Stephanie, I just heard in your head what Mary told you before she left. You followin'?" She asked.

"Uh-huh." I nodded, staring at a spot on the ground.

"Now, you best be heedin' those words." She said, I looked at her and forced a smile.

"I will." I told her again, I swear I saw her eyes narrow at me but she let go of my hand all the same, I quickly left her on the porch and met Sam and Dean at the car with Jenny. She pulled me into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much for helping to save Richie and Sari, Stephanie." She told me, I smiled at her and gave a shrug when I pulled away.

"Well, it was nothing really." I shrugged, but Jenny shook her head.

"Saving my babies isn't just nothing." Jenny rolled her eyes and I laughed.

"Well, they're great. You take good care of them, won't you." I looked at her and she nodded.

"I will." She smiled again and I stepped over to Dean, he grinned and pulled me into a hug and a light kiss.

"Hey." He said and I grinned.

"Hey." I replied, he laughed and kissed me again.

"Oh God, do I have to endure a whole car journey of this?" Sam moaned and I broke off the kiss and smirked.

"Yes." I laughed, Sam rolled his eyes in response.

"Don't you kids be strangers." Missouri called from the gate, Dean actually cracked a smile and waved.

"We won't." Dean replied.

"See you around." The seer answered, Jenny gave us a parting wave and we got in the car and drove off.

_Missouri's house – General P.O.V_

Missouri walked in and set her purse down onto one of her ornate tables, "That boy... he has such powerful abilities. But why he couldn't sense his own father, I have no idea." She sighed and looked at John Winchester, who was sat on the sofa.

"Mary's spirit – do you really think she saved the boys?" John asked the psychic.

"I do. And not just the boys – there's a girl with them, Stephanie." She told him.

John's head snapped up, "Who? Who is she?" He demanded.

"She's just a girl, she knows what she's doing, don't you worry. They're a good team, helping out eachother and whatnot," Missouri told him, John nodded, but he wasn't convinced, he nervously twisted the wedding band on his finger and Missouri sighed, "John Winchester, I could just slap you. Why won't you go to your children?" She asked.

"I want to," John answered tearfully, "You have no idea how much I wanna see 'em. But I can't, not yet. Not until I know the truth."

"That girl though – you better watch yourself when you go to your boys. Stephanie has an unimaginable extent of power, she's a ticking doom bomb, that's for sure." Missouri frowned.

"So... You're saying we should kill her?" John asked, looking up at the seer.

"You know what you need to do, John." Missouri gave him a look.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I stared out the window as Dean drove away from Lawrence quickly, thinking about what Mary had said to me before she destroyed herself for us. "So, Steph... who's Alice?" Sam broke me out of my thoughts and I was bought back to the car.

"Huh?" I asked.

"When we were saving the kids from the house, and you grabbed Richie, he was wriggling like crazy and you handed him to me and said: 'I'll drop him otherwise, Alice never wriggled like that'. Who's Alice?" He asked, I stared at him for a few moments before I sighed.

"Alice is... was... my little sister, she's only about Richie's age. Whenever I had a chance to spend time with her she was so... so _great_. I was... good at what I did back home, a good partner, a good sister and daughter. I could juggle the normal, and then I could juggle the _ab_normal, you know?" I answered.

There was a pause.

"I didn't know you had a sister." Sam said quietly.

"_Have_. She still exists. I just don't exist in the same world with her anymore." I corrected sadly, going back to staring out at the window in a sombre silence.

**Author's Note: I'm truly sorry about this late update! I started Year 11 and it's basically the most important year of my educational career. So... yeah I really love writing this story, I just need to learn how to juggle revision and homework and writing... oh, and that social life that I have. Right, anyway... You know the drill (I hope), let's say... 60 reviews till my next update? See ya then! Oh and before I forget: Tell me your thoughts on The Dying Of The Light too, I want to see if our opinions varied at all.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Thank you all again for your lovely reviews! In response to one: I absolutely _loved _TDOL, after I read the final page I closed the book, got up from the sofa and ran into the nearest empty room to cry. And before you all ask, yes it was embarrassing to cry over a book. But I have no shame; those books were a big influence on my childhood.**

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 10 – Asylum

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

"No, Dad was in California last we heard from him. We just thought... he comes to you for ammunitions... maybe you've seen him in the last few weeks. Just, call us if you hear anything." Sam paused as a voice replied on the speaker. "Thanks." Sam gave a small smile but it didn't last, he sighed when he hung up. Dean and I watched him from the table, we were in one of the worst motel rooms we had been in yet, the wallpaper was flaky and an ugly, dull olive colour, the carpet was ratty and the thread was frayed. Still, at least there were no bugs in this one.

"Caleb hasn't heard from him?" Dean asked as Sam pocketed his mobile.

"Nope. And neither has Pastor Jim or Jefferson. What about the journal? Any leads in there?" Sam asked, looking at the journal that lay open in front of me.

"No, same as last time we looked. There's nothing I can make out... I know you guys love him, but I swear, he writes like freaking Yoda." I sighed and pushed the book away from me, Dean smiled a little at the comment.

"I've been thinking... maybe we should call the Feds, file a missing person's." Sam suggested, sitting on the bed nearest to the table.

"We've all talked about this: Dad'd be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail." Dean sighed and shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't care anymore." Sam shrugged.

"Maybe Sam has a point, Dean. Your Dad's been missing for three months now." I pointed out, Dean turned and gave me a look, but I held his gaze evenly, "You said you called him whilst we were in Kansas, well, where is he?"

"Steph's right: after all that happened back in Kansas, I mean: he should've been there, Dean. You said so yourself. You tried to call him and... nothing." Sam added, a mobile phone began to ring and Dean got up and walked across the room to find it.

"I know!" He snapped as he rummaged through his rucksack, "Where the hell is my cellphone?"

"You know," Sam continued, "He could be dead for all we know."

"Don't say that! He's not dead! He's – he's..." Dean trailed off and started yanking out clothes and weapons from his rucksack whilst the phone continued to ring.

"He's what? He's hiding? He's _busy_?" Sam asked scornfully. Dean ignored him as the mobile's ringing cut off, he sighed irritably when he pulled it out.

"Number was blocked, I don't know who it was." Dean rubbed his eyes tiredly as he looked at the screen, his hand dropped away from his face as he read something.

"Huh. I don't believe it." He murmured, shaking his head as a disbelieving smile spread across his face.

"Don't believe what? What is it?" I asked, looking at him in confusion.

"It was a, uh... a phone call and then a text message. The text shows coordinates." Dean answered, hurrying back to the table and opening the laptop that lay there on charge.

"You think it's Dad texting us?" Sam asked him as Dean typed frantically onto the keys.

"He's given us coordinates before." Dean shrugged, not taking his eyes off the laptop screen.

Sam raised an eyebrow, "The man can barely work a _toaster_, Dean." He said.

"Guys, it's good news! It means he's ok, or alive at least." Dean replied.

"But you said the number was blocked, Dean, wouldn't he wanna talk to you two after all this time?" I argued.

Dean didn't reply.

"Well, where do the coordinates point?" Sam asked, breaking the pause.

"That's the interesting part: Rockford, Illinois." Dean replied this time, looking at his brother excitedly.

"Ok, and that's interesting how?" Sam frowned.

"I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this." Dean explained, turning around the laptop screen and showing us a news article, "So this cop, Walter Kelly, comes home from his shift, shoots his wife, then puts the gun in his mouth – blows his brains out." Dean explained whilst we looked at a photograph of a man in his mid thirties.

"Lovely." I grimaced.

"And earlier that night, Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum." Dean continued, Sam looked up at him.

"Ok, I'm not following. What has this got to do with us?" The younger Winchester asked.

"Roosevelt Asylum," I echoed, "That sounds familiar..." I trailed off and looked back at the journal that lay out on the table, "It's been written in there."

"Yep, Dad earmarked the same asylum in the journal." Dean nodded, I gestured and the journal flew into my awaiting hand, I opened it and flicked through the pages.

"Let's see..." I murmured, skimming over the text, "Here. Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths – till last week at least. I think this is where your Dad wants us to go." I tapped the page and gave it to Dean.

"This is a job," Sam snorted, "Dad wants us to work a job."

"Well, maybe we'll meet up with him? Maybe he's there." Dean reasoned, his tone hopeful.

I exchanged an uncertain glance with Sam, "Maybe he's not? I mean, your Dad could be sending us there, by ourselves to hunt this thing." I pointed out.

Dean flared up, "Who cares! If he wants us there, it's good enough for me!" His shouts echoed around the room and his words hung heavy in the air.

"This doesn't strike you as weird? The texting?" Sam asked.

"The phonecalling?" I added.

"The coordinates?" Sam finished, Dean's gaze shifted from Sam and I and he slammed his hand down on the table, demanding a silence.

"Guys! Dad's telling us to go somewhere, we're _going_." Dean finalised and got up from his seat, walking over to the bed where his rucksack lay, "Pack your things, we're leaving ASAP." I caught Sam's eye and he shrugged.

Dean drove faster than he had ever driven before, carelessly speeding down the highways and cutting past angry drivers, his music blaring as loud as it would go. We arrived in Rockford at around nine at night and we hit the first bar we came to. Sam and I hung back as Dean approached a man who sat a little way away from the other patrons, his left hand was wrapped tightly around his drink, "You're Daniel Gunderson. You're a cop, right?" Dean said as he walked over.

"Yeah." The man replied, not looking at Dean.

"Hi. I'm, uh, Nigel Tufnel, The Chicago Tribune. Mind if I ask you a few questions, about your partner?" Dean asked him.

The man looked up at him now, his eyes were narrowed guardedly, "Yeah, I do. I'm just tryna have a beer here."

"That's ok, I swear it won't take that long. I just want to get the story in your words." Dean pressed.

"A week ago, my partner was sitting in that chair. Now he's dead. You gonna ambush me _here_?" Daniel exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I need to know what happened." Dean shrugged, unaffected.

"Right, let's do it." Sam said, his voice only loud enough for me to hear, I nodded and we walked over to where Dean and Daniel were, Sam stormed over to his brother and shoved him away roughly, a fake look of rage upon his face that looked so, so real. "Hey buddy, why don't you leave the poor guy alone! The man's an officer! Why dontcha show a little respect." Sam roared, Dean stared at the two of us for a moment, and then he walked away.

"You didn't have to do that." Daniel looked at us gratefully.

"Of course he did," I gave him a smile, "That guy's a serious jerk." I raised my voice, using the word Sam had taught me and making it loud enough so Dean could hear from the other side of the room.

"She's right, guys like that are just morons. Let me buy you a beer, huh?" Sam shrugged, then turned to the barman, "Three?" He asked, holding up three fingers.

"Thanks." The officer smiled thankfully at us and we took two seats at the table with him.

We exited the bar twenty minutes later and found Dean leaning against the hood of his beloved car, "Shoved me kinda hard in there, buddy boy." He frowned at his brother.

"I had to sell it, didn't I? It's method acting." Sam shrugged.

"Huh?" Dean gave us a vacant look.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Never mind." He sighed, Dean looked at me, his eyes reflected with hurt and playfulness.

"I loved the use of jerk, by the way." He smirked and I shrugged.

"Sam taught me it, I'm glad you heard it, you really _are _a jerk." I grinned and Dean rolled his eyes.

"I am not, besides, if I am," Dean suddenly pulled me in close, his hands snaking round my waist, my back to him as I felt his warm breath in my ear, "That means you like that I'm a jerk." His voice sounded and I folded into him, unable to keep the smile from my face as Dean traced soothing patterns with his fingers on my waist.

"Guys, I'm stood right here." Sam frowned at us.

Even though I couldn't see it, I could tell Dean was rolling his eyes, "Oh, come on. It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"Yeah, and everytime I see it I wanna throw up." Sam retorted, glaring at his older brother. Dean sighed and arm reluctantly unwrapped from my waist as he stepped away from me, although the warmth from his fingers still lingered in my hair and on my waist.

I shivered against the cold air slightly and cleared my throat forcefully, "Right, we found out Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, got on well with everyone – he had a bright future ahead of him."

"What about at home?" Dean asked.

"He and his wife had a few fights," Sam shrugged, taking over, "Like everybody, but he was mostly smooth sailing. They were even talking about having kids."

"Right, so either Kelly had some deep-seated crazy waiting to bust out, or something else did it to him." Dean nodded slowly, "What'd Gunderson tell you about the asylum?" He asked.

Sam and I exchanged a look, "A lot." We said.

It was only a short drive to Roosevelt Asylum, and soon the three of us were clearing the tall, rusted chain linked fence of the Asylum and entering the abandoned building. The interior of the Asylum wasn't much better than the exterior: almost all of the windows had been smashed open, but the old metal bars remained vigilantly on the sills, preventing anyone's escape attempt. The inside of the building looked like a hurricane had torn through it, leaving chaos in it's wake: tables and beds were flipped over and furniture had broken, contents on trays had spilled out across the floor, dirty bedsheets were shredded and littered across the floor. "So apparently the cops chased the kids here... into the south wing." Sam explained to Dean, clicking on his torch and shining the beam over a sign on the dusty, concrete wall:

**SOUTH WING**

"South wing, huh?" Dean echoed, glancing up at the fading sign, I clicked my fingers and caught a spark, the flame flickered brilliantly in my right palm against the bitter gloom of the cold Asylum, I glanced once more at the mess and then back to the boys, Dean was flicking through the pages of their Dad's journal, "'1972. Three kids broke into the south wing, only one survived.' Way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place."

"So whatever's going on, the south wing is the heart of it." I muttered.

"But if the kids are breaking into the asylum, why aren't there a ton more deaths?" Sam wondered, I felt the air shift faintly to my right and I whipped around, my eyes narrowed as I searched the area where I had felt something, I saw a side door and saw the dark outline of a broken chained tied to the door.

"Looks like the doors are usually chained. Could've been chained up for years." I noted.

"Yeah, to keep people out. Or to keep something in." Dean responded, we shared a long stare at eachother whilst Sam walked over and pushed against the door, it creaked and groaned, dust billowed out as it slowly swung open, revealing a dark, dilapidated hallway. We walked through the door and stepped down the hallway in unease, "Let me know if you see any dead people, _Hayley Joel_." Dean smirked at his brother.

Sam gave Dean a bored glance, "Dude. Enough."

"I'm serious," Dean pressed, "You gotta be careful, alright? Ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing you have going on."

"I told you, it's not ESP!" Sam sighed, "I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams."

"Yeah, whatever," Dean shrugged, "Don't ask, don't tell."

"Guys: just shut _up_." I hushed them, my gaze looking out for anything that could jump out and possibly kill us slasher-style.

"You get a reading on that thing or not?" Sam asked, breaking the silence and looking at Dean.

"Nope, of course – it doesn't mean no one's home." Dean sighed, checking his homemade EMF meter.

"Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day." Sam stated and I glanced at him with a frown.

"How could you possibly know that?" I asked him in confusion.

Sam opened his mouth to answer but Dean beat him to it, "Here's the thing: Bigfoot here is our own little not-40-year-old-but-virgin." He smirked and clapped his brother on the shoulder, Sam shot him a death glare and I waited until he turned away until I allowed the awaiting smile to spill over my face.

"I hate you, Dean." Sam muttered grumpily and Dean chuckled.

"Aww, don't be like that, Sammy. Lighten up." He tried to reason and Sam sighed in defeat, "Anyway, you _are _right: the freaks come out at night."

"Yeah." Sam said in an off-hand tone.

Dean clicked his tongue and I went back to watching the flame in my hand cast dancing shadows along the walls, "Hey Sam, who do you think is the hotter psychic: _Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love-Hewitt_, or you?" He dead panned and I burst out laughing, Sam huffed annoyedly and his pace increased. Dean shrugged at me and I rolled my eyes, but a grin tugged the ends of my mouth, we walked in silence until we reached another old, aged door, Dean reached forward and pushed the door open.

The door revealed another room like the first one, various medical contents were strewn across the dusty floor, the furniture was tipped over and smashed violently. Dean whistled as we surveyed the scene, "Man. Electro-shock, lobotomies... They did some twisted stuff to these people. Kinda like my man Jack in _Cuckoo's Nest_." He made his eyes wide and crazy looking as he shot Sam and I manic grin, but we both ignored it and shone our lights to take a closer look at the equipment.

"So, what do you guys think? Ghost possession?" I asked, crouching down and looking at a suspicious greying liquid in rusting syringes.

"Maybe," Sam shrugged in response, "Or maybe it's more Amityville, or the Smurl hunting."

"Yeah, I don't know what any of that means." I gave a small smile, standing back up.

"Spirits driving them insane. Kinda like my man Jack in _The Shining_." Dean grinned at us again and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Dean," Sam called, and his brother looked up, "When are we going to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Dean asked, "My man Jack?" He smirked.

"About the fact Dad's not here." Sam answered.

Dean's smile faded, "Oh. I see. How 'bout... never."

"I'm being serious, man. He sent us here..." Sam trailed off and looked away as his brother frowned.

"So am I, Sam. Look, he sent us here. He obviously wants us here. We'll pick up the search later." Dean tried to end the conversation hastily.

"It doesn't matter what he wants." Sam replied.

"See — that attitude? Right there? That is why I always get the extra cookie." Dean sighed and shook his head at Sam.

"Dad could be in trouble, we should be looking for him. We deserve some answers, Dean. I mean, this is our family we're talking about." Sam tried to reason with his brother.

s

"I understand that, Sam. But he's given us an order." Dean said, narrowing his eyes at him. I looked away, suddenly feeling the heavy tension in the atmosphere between the brothers.

"So what, we gotta always follow Dad's orders?" Sam asked sceptically.

Dean looked at Sam like he was crazy, "Of course we do." He nodded angrily, Sam shot Dean a frustrated look, but he turned away from him, giving the conversation an abrupt end. "'Sanford Ellicott'," Dean said, I turned and saw he was reading a battered old sign with a name on it, "We gotta find out more about the south wing, see if something happened here." He walked away as Sam and I inspected the discarded sign, Sam stared down at the sign with narrowed eyes, his jaw clenched.

I sighed as Dean walked from the room, making his way back to where we came in, "Come on, Sam. Let's get out of here." I told him, Sam sighed and nodded, and we exited from the room and followed Dean.

Dean and I were leaning against the slightly tinted glass windows of the hospital, Sam had offered to go into the psychiatric clinic to talk to Dr. Ellicott, and he had asked to be alone. Dean and I had shrugged and allowed him to go in alone, but I was soon regretting the decision: there was nothing to do outside whilst Sam was inside doing the important part of the work. "I'm bored." I sighed and looked at the older Winchester, he was staring off into the distant and looking deep in thought.

After a moment he turned to me, "Huh?"

"Bored. I'm bored." I repeated.

"Well, we opted for Sammy going in on the inside alone, what do you want me to do about it." Dean shrugged.

I opened my mouth and closed it: he was right, Sam was in a hospital in a psychiatric ward posing as a client, and he was probably having more fun than we were. "I hate being bored." I muttered grumpily, fidgeting and taking my jacket off, letting the sun rays fall on my bare arms. I stretched and closed my eyes, arching my back and holding the pose, enjoying the satisfaction stretching gave.

I sighed and opened my eyes slowly, running a hand through my hair and moving some of it from my face, "What's that made of?" Dean suddenly asked, I glanced at him and saw he was looking curiously at the jacket folded over my arms.

"It's made from a special material, I don't know the name of it." I shrugged lazily, Dean held his hand out and I reluctantly handed it to him: that jacket had saved my lives countless of times, and I didn't plan on losing it any time soon.

"What's so special about it? You never take it off." Dean asked, glancing up at me.

"It's armoured, protects me from bullets and hits and stuff, it's saved my lives so many times." I explained as Dean ran his hand over the black material.

"Oh yeah, you said a while back it was protective..." Dean murmured as he studied the coat closely, "Who made it for you?" He asked as I held my hand out, I took it back and folded it over my arm.

"A friend." I responded in a cryptic tone.

"Gee, thanks for the specific answer." Dean rolled his eyes, I broke into a small smile at his complaint and gave a half-hearted shrug.

"What's the point of saying his name? He was a friend. He made me this outfit. I'm never going to see him again." I replied, Dean's frown softened and I turned away, squeezing my eyes shut as I shrugged the jacket on.

"Listen, Steph-." Dean started, but the doors burst open and Sam walked straight out at a quickened pace, he passed us and we hurried to catch up to him. "Dude! You were in there forever. What the hell were you talking about?" He looked at his brother as we walked across the road, pausing to allow a few vehicles to pass by us like angry charged bullets.

"Just the hospital, you know." Sam shrugged, his comment short and off-hand, I glanced at Dean and he frowned.

"And..?" I pressed as we began to cross the road, Sam's pace was still fast-tempered.

"And the south wing? It's where they housed the really hard cases. The psychotics, the criminally insane." Sam answered ad Dean scoffed loudly.

"Sounds cosy." He muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with a thin smile, "And get this: one night in '64, they rioted. Attacked staff, attacked eachother."

"Lovely." I sighed as we reached the pavement and began walking down it, the car was parked a little way up ahead, the sunlight glared off the windscreen, even from this distance.

"Yeah, sounds like they had their own little tea party. Did they just take over the whole asylum or..." Dean responded, glancing up at his older brother.

"Apparently." Sam shrugged again.

"Were there any deaths?" I asked.

"Some patients, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never recovered, including our chief of staff, Ellicott." Sam answered and it was my turn to frown.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'never recovered'?" I asked, Sam slowed his pace and we came to a stop in the warm sunlight.

"Cops scoured every inch of the place but I guess the patients must've... stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden." The younger Winchester answered, there was a brief silence and I exchanged a disgusted look with Dean.

"That's grim." Dean wrinkled his nose.

Sam nodded, "Yeah," He agreed, "So: they transferred all the remaining patients, and closed the hospital down." We started walking again, only several steps away from where Dean's car was parked, amusingly he had parked it as far away from anyone else's in order to reduce the damage rate.

"So, in summary: we've got a load of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies." I finalised.

"And several angry spirits." Sam nodded.

"Good times," Dean faked a smile and sighed as we reached the car, "Let's check out the hospital tonight."

We entered the asylum the same way we did last time, Sam led the way in and pushed open the old rotting door, Dean and I followed close behind. As we walked into the same dust-covered, mess-filled room Sam pulled out his video camera and a torch, Dean switched his EMF meter on and it beeped once, I clicked my fingers as Dean turned on the spot, surveying the room. The beeping was rapidly breaking through the silence, Sam and I looked at him.

"Getting readings?" I asked him with a smile.

"Yeah, big time." Dean responded, frowning as he looked down at the meter.

"This place is orbing like crazy." Sam muttered, shining his torch at the overturned furniture and strewn out papers.

"Probably multiple spirits out and about." The older Winchester shrugged.

"And if these uncovered bodies are causing the haunting..." Sam speculated, trailing off in thought.

It was silent as the realisation hit us all in the dark, "Right," Dean took charge, "We gotta find 'em and burn 'em. We need to be careful though, the only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit... is the pissed off spirit of a psycho killer." Sam and I exchanged a look and we resumed walking, going through a doorway and found ourselves in front of two ramshackled doors. "Right, we split up. Sam go left, me and Steph'll go right." He said, Sam didn't say anything and stepped through to the left, Dean and I went right.

The room we entered was just as dead as the last, there were several dark stains on the walls and the floor that looked suspiciously like blood, I didn't take a closer look to see if I was right. Beside me Dean sighed as his torch beam shone over the mess that filled the room, he turned to me and opened his mouth but was cut off by a sharp call.

"Dean?! Steph!" We heard Sam's panicked shouts and raced out of the room, we tore into the adjourning room to find Sam stood frozen as an old woman walked towards her. Her hair was white, wild and wiry, her left eye was bloody and hung half out and dried as it swung under her dark eye socket. I clicked my fingers and threw fire at it, but it passed through her harmlessly, I narrowed my eyes and snapped my palms out, the air shimmered and the woman staggered back, her head cocked and she looked at me blankly.

"Shotgun!" I screamed to Dean, he wasted no time in rummaging through his rucksack and pulling out his gun.

"Get down!" He barked the order to Sam and he threw himself to the ground, Dean aimed and wasted no time in firing three shots, they hit the woman and she dissipated into the air.

"Well, that was weird." Sam breathed, glancing around the room before looking at Dean and I.

I exchanged a look with Dean, "Yeah, you're telling us." I chuckled, shaking my head as a small disbelieving smile appeared on my face.

"No, guys, I mean it was weird that she didn't attack me." Sam shook his head.

"Looked pretty aggro from where I was standing." Dean frowned.

"What do you mean, 'she didn't attack me'." I said at the same time.

"Then I guess it's not what it looked like. She didn't hurt me, she didn't even try!" Sam protested and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"So... if she didn't in fact try and hurt you... what did she want?" I asked, looking at the youngest Winchester in confusion.

Sam merely shrugged and shines his torch around the room once more, I clicked my fingers and summoned another flame, mainly using it to keep my hand warm and use Sam's torch beam for light. Dean rubbed his eyes tiredly and gave a long sigh, "Ok, there's no use to us standing in an empty room, lets search elsewhere." He said, I nodded and followed the boys as we exited the dark room. We trudged down yet another dusty corridor – lit only by Sam's torch beam and the soft, warm glow of my flame, as we passed another room there was a noise, like the noise of metal across the floor, we froze and whirled towards the sound. Sam pointed to the door and we crept up to it, my hand found the handle and it turned with a small creak, I eased it open carefully, making sure it didn't smash against the adjourning wall. We were met with another patient's room, it matched all the others in untidiness, the room was fairly bare, save for a simple single bed with a rusted and bent frame, it was tipped on it's side—the ragged and torn bed sheet was clinging on to the edge, fighting to cover the mattress. I narrowed my eyes at the bed as Sam and Dean entered the room behind me, Dean had his gun raised and ready to fire at anything that moved, once they reached me Sam tapped me. I looked back at him and he motioned for me to inspect the bed, I frowned and pointed to him, the boys exchanged a look and simultaneously shoved me towards the bed, I glared daggers at them both and rolled my eyes. I reached the bed and saw a blonde covered head crouched the other side, and the figure was breathing quietly, I reached out and gave the mattress a short, sharp push. The bed groaned and heaved onto all four of its legs with a screech, the figure jumped up and I raised my hand, ready to throw a fireball if the ghost attacked. The figure turned and I was met with a girl around my age, definitely not a ghost. My own eyes widened and I quickly let the flame in my hand go out, backing up to the boys as the girl moved out from behind the bed.

She took quick, panicked breaths and regarded us with wary brown eyes, "It's alright," I assured her, giving her a small smile, "It's ok," I repeated in a clear voice as her breathing got louder, "What's your name?"

"Katherine." The girl breathed, then she frowned, "Kat." She corrected.

"I'm Dean, this is Sam and that's Steph." Dean replied, his gun down by his side and a warm smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked her.

"Um... My boyfriend, Gavin." She answered with a shrug.

"Is he here with you?" I asked.

"Somewhere," She shrugged, "He thought it would be fun, try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just... you know, pretend. But, but I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream and..." She trailed off and put the her hands over her face, I rolled my eyes at the boys and forced another smile on my face.

"Ok, uh, Kat?" The girl looked up at me with teary eyes, "Come on. Sam here's gonna get you out of here and then we're going to find your boyfriend." I told her.

"No! No. I'm not going to leave without Gavin. I'm coming with you." She shook her head stubbornly, I frowned and stepped over to her.

"Right, Kat? I'm gonna lay it down for you," I put my hand on the teenager's shoulder, "Because you guys decided to break in and trespass in a haunted asylum, we have to find your boyfriend as well as finish whatever we came here to do. Because of you and Gavin, we have to babysit, and don't you think it would be better for everyone here to just go home?" I frowned and shook my head, Kat looked at me with surprised eyes, the tears no longer in them.

There was a long and uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, wow." Dean rolled his eyes and pulled me away from the girl, "Steph, can I talk to you over there for a sec?" He asked in a forced tone.

I frowned in confusion, "Why?"

"You'll see. Sam, take over." He ordered, dragging me away from Sam and Kat, he didn't say anything until we were out in the corridor, "What the hell is wrong with you?" He demanded.

I looked at him in complete and utter confusion, "What did I do?"

"Where do I start?" He scoffed, "Do you have any tact whatsoever? That girl in there went in here with her _boyfriend_, it's gonna take a lot more than some girl telling her to leave him and go home."

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms, "That's exactly what she needed to be told," I argued in a hushed whisper, "We would have passed by that room and then a ghost would have killed her unless she hadn't made a noise. If we just let her tag along she could get killed, or worse – one of us killed!"

"If she wants to come, she can come with us. Just tell me this: if the roles were reversed, would you leave one us in there and allow yourself to be taken out on the sidelines?" He asked.

I opened my mouth to make a sharp retort but it died on my tongue, and I just glared in response and snatched the handgun from the holster on his belt, angrily snapping the safety off. "Fine. But something happens to us because of her, it's on you." I scoffed and left him out in the hallway, alone. I smiled thinly as I stepped back into the room, "So, I guess you're coming with us, Kat. How are we going to do this?"

"We're gonna split up, me and Sam'll take one wing, you and Kat can take the other. Ring us if you find anything." Dean announced behind me as he entered the room, I gritted my teeth upon hearing the plan but decided against protesting.

I checked through the rooms quickly and quietly, not making a sound as I checked behind the desks and beds, even in the dressers and closets. Kat had a tendency to dawdle behind me, complaining about the cold and even kicked some broken pieces of furniture glumly, I tried to ignore it and held the torch Sam had given us in a death grip. The third time she did it, I turned and gave her a forced smile, remembering Dean's words. "Um, hey, Kat?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"I have just one question for you, you've seen a lot of horror films, yeah?" I stopped, she looked down at the ground and shrugged.

"I guess so." She responded with an air of nonchalance.

"Do me a favour. Next time you see one? Pay attention. When someone says a place is haunted – don't go in!" I exclaimed, Kat went red slightly and shivered, I sighed and took off my jacket, slipping it from my shoulders and reluctantly handing it to her, "Here, this'll keep you warm."

Kat stared at me for a moment before taking the jacket, quickly slipping it on her shoulders and giving me a smile, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." I replied dully, turning away from her.

"I mean, really, thank you-."

"No, seriously, don't mention it. Because that jacket means a lot to me, so don't lose it." I gave her a hard stare and she nodded obediently. We walked onwards and she didn't dawdle, and made sure to see where she was stepping. After a few minutes I was seriously regretting asking for a tight sleeveless tunic from Ghastly, the cold closed in on me and I couldn't shake it, but then I caught my reflection in the mirror and admired my figure and realised why I had asked for a such a tight top, and suddenly didn't noticed the cold as much.

As we entered another hallway the torch light flickered, vainly trying to fight away the dark over powering shroud of shadows, it cut out altogether and I sighed, "You son of a bitch," I muttered and threw the torch to Kat, who caught it in an awkward two-handed grip, "Here, put this in one of the pockets, don't worry, I have a lighter." I assured her, clicking my fingers on my right hand and checking the handgun I had taken from Dean in my left hand, the flame flickered and danced strongly in my palm, illuminating the floor and the bottom of the walls brightly.

"Ow. You're hurting my arm." Kat complained from behind me, I looked up from the flame and frowned.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, turning to her, she was two large paces away from me and I definitely wasn't clinging onto her arm like some scared little schoolgirl. We both looked down at her arm and saw a grey, disembodied hand clutching tightly onto Kat's arm. My eyes narrowed and I moved like a snake, snapping my palm against the air. I didn't expect anything to happen, but amazingly something did: the pale, disincarnate hand let go of Kat as I stepped towards her, she was quiet as I shoved her behind me protectively. I held my palm out and shakily read the air readings, sighing as I felt nothing brush past, I turned to Kat and gave her a weak smile. "It's fine, it's gone." I assured her, the girl smiled back and opened her mouth to respond, but something cold and clammy wrapped around my neck and hauled me backwards, I screamed as I was pulled back into a room, Kat cried out in horror before the door slammed shut before me.

"Steph!" I heard Kat call distantly, she banged on the door and I whirled in fear, looking for the thing that grabbed me, but it wasn't there anymore. I ran over to the door and tugged at the handle, but it wouldn't budge.

"Kat, get Dean!" I called to her, I could hear her sob and then her running footsteps fading away from me, I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the dim and swapped the gun for my right hand, it shook slightly but I passed it off as adrenaline.

I must have waited in the dark for about three minutes, but it felt like an age until I heard rushing footsteps through the walls, there was a loud banging on the door and I jumped. "Where is she? Which room is she in?" I heard Dean's voice and sighed, jiggling the handle of my door.

"Dean!" I called, "Dean it won't open!"

"Right, ok. Don't worry, it's gonna be ok!" Dean called back and even though he couldn't see, I found myself nodding in agreement to him.

"Where's Sam?" I called, trying to change the topic to keep the fear that was curdling inside me at bay.

"I left him to find Gavin on his own, he's fine though, don't worry." Dean responded, he kept trying with the door and I found myself getting colder and colder as his attempts failed.

"Let me out! Please!" I screamed, my voice cracked as I looked at the old, moulding walls.

"Steph, hang on!" Dean called back, I ran a hand through my hair and shivered slightly.

"Is it working, can you get it open?" I heard Kat's hushed tones and stayed quiet, waiting for Dean's reply.

"I don't know," Dean replied in a quiet voice, he obviously thought I couldn't hear him, "But I'm not leaving her in there."

The air brushed against my hands faintly and I narrowed my eyes, backing away from the door with slow, steady steps. I stopped when I heard someone behind me, they were taking deep, heavy breaths, so heavy I could feel their breath on my bare shoulders. I closed my eyes and readied the handgun, I took a quick breath and opened them, whirling on the spot to find nothing. I frowned and snapped my fingers, summoning a flame so I could see through the gloom, I glanced at the edges at the end of the room and once I was satisfied that no one was stood there I turned back to the door where Dean was trying to break into and screamed. Stood there was a tall, heavyset grey figure, with dark oily hair to match his hooded eyes. His face was beaten and bloody, but the rest of his skin dark and had a sick, clammy grey pallor. I couldn't help it: I let out a terrified scream and back up to the door, only to back into the ghost, I could hear his breath but I couldn't _feel _it, making me all the more creeped out. "Dean!" I screamed in terror, backing up from the spectral figure.

Outside the room I could hear running footsteps again, "What's going on?" I recognised Sam's voice.

"It's Steph – she's in there with one of them." I heard Dean say, the ghost tilted his head and I narrowed my eyes: he had tilted it just like Skulduggery did.

It flickered again and opened it's mouth, it's expression blank as it reached it's hand out, I took a step back and whipped the shadows wildly at it, "Help me!" I shrieked, the ghost advanced forward.

"Steph!" I heard Dean again and shook my head, my back pressed up against the wall. I ran my hand through my hair and slid down the wall in defeat.

"Get me out of here!" I yelled, using the shadows again as a last ditch effort, it didn't work, the figure continued closer, his head still cocked and his hooded eyes still blank, vacant.

"Steph, it's not going to hurt you. Listen to me. You've got to face it, calm it down." I heard Sam's orders and frowned.

"She's gotta what?!" I heard Dean's astonished tone.

"I have to what?!" I called to them, staring up at the ghost in terror.

"These spirits, they're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to communicate. You gotta face it. You have to listen to it." Sam shouted back.

"You face it!" I know it was childish, but staring up at the disfigured ghost and being told to listen to it just didn't appeal to me.

"No! It's the only way to get out of there!" Sam answered and I sighed and jerked away as the ghost came within a few feet, I sprang up and headed over to the to the door, I pulled a face as the ghost turned slowly and stared at me.

"No!" I told Sam uncertainly, the ghost moved towards me with slow, awkward, stumbling steps.

"Look at it, come on. You can do it!" I heard Sam and groaned, the ghost came nearer and nearer and I took deep breaths to calm myself, fighting the urges to at least _hit _the apparition. It leaned in close to my neck and I bit my lip as I heard it's dry lips opening.

After the ghost vanished, I stared at where it had been just a few seconds before, not noticing the lock click and the door creak slowly open. Suddenly I was being enveloped in a tight, suffocating hug, but I didn't raise my arms to react. "Oh, Steph, are you ok?" I heard Dean's relieved voice in my ear and I blinked, coming back to reality a little.

Sam had moved passed us to check the room, "137." I said in a dull, dull voice. Dean slowly unwrapped his arms around me, but he held onto my shoulders as he looked closely into my eyes.

"Sorry?" He frowned.

"137." I blinked at him, "That's what is whispered in my ear." Dean looked up at someone past my shoulder, Sam no doubt. "It's a room number." I said, before he could. Sam frowned at me and glanced at Dean, I could tell they were having one of their silent brother conversations and looked down at my hands; they were shaking.

"Is she ok?" Kat looked at the brother's in concern, I looked up from my hands, trying to stop them shaking as I nodded jerkily.

"Ok, Steph, can we talk to you for a moment?" Dean smiled softly and tugged at my arm, leading me away from where Kat and Gavin were stood, "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked once Kat and Gavin were out of earshot.

"Mmm-hmm." I nodded more easily this time.

"I think she's in shock." Sam looked at his brother, obviously unconvinced by my efforts.

"Guys, I'm fine, really. Just a little shaken, you know?" I shrugged it off, Sam stared at me for a long moment before he shrugged back.

"Ok, fine... So if these spirits aren't trying to hurt anyone..." The tallest Winchester trailed off.

"Then what are they trying to do?" Dean finished.

"137," I murmured again, rolling the words around my mouth, "Maybe that's what they've been trying to tell us." I suggested.

"I guess we'll find out." Dean shrugged.

"Sounds good." I managed a smile as we turned back to the teenagers.

Kat and Gavin looked up at us expectantly, "So, now, are you guys ready to leave this place?" Dean said.

"That's an understatement." Kat joked, looking up at the walls, expecting something else to jump out and attack.

"Ok," Dean turned to his brother, "You get them outta here, Steph and I are going to find room 137."

"Wait." I held my hands and stopped everyone, I walked over to Kat and held out my hand, "Jacket." I said simply.

"Oh." Kat mumbled and slipped it off, reluctantly handing it to me, I wasted no time in slipping it on and sighed as I slipped my arms through the sleeves, enjoying the feel of my much missed coat, "You know, that is a nice jacket-."

"I know." I interrupted her, behind me Dean cleared his throat.

"I just wanted to, you know, thank you for saving me back there, and, uh... where did you get that?" She asked, pointing to the jacket with want in her eyes.

"Oh, this old thing?" I said in a mocking tone as I looked down at the coat, but Kat didn't notice, "It's one of a kind, a friend made it for me before he died." I waked back over to Dean and we walked away, "Nice meeting you!" I called over my shoulder before we rounded the corner, leaving the three of them stood there, shocked.

Dean and I walked down the corridors in silence, I was relieved it was only Dean and I so I could have a flame dancing in my palm brilliantly. "So," Dean cleared his throat awkwardly, "What happened back there?"

"Huh? In the room?" I asked.

"No, no. Before that – Kat said you saved her." Dean responded.

I was quiet for a moment, "Well, the ghost had a hold on her arm so I got her out of the danger zone, I got caught off guard and dragged into that room." I explained plainly.

"Right, right," Dean nodded, "Did the ghost say anything else to you in that room?" He suddenly asked, the breath hitched in my throat and I halted to a sudden stop.

"No... just, just 137." I stuttered, suddenly aware of how cold I was.

Dean was silent for a moment.

"Ok." He nodded slowly. We resumed walking, counting the door numbers until we found the right one, Dean tried the handle but it was locked tight, he began to fumble in his pocket for his lock picks, I waited all but two seconds before I snapped my palms out. The air rippled and the door broke from it's lock with a satisfying crack, I expected it to swing round and collide with the wall, but instead it slammed into something hard and bounced back, closing shut again. I sighed and opened the door, pushing it open experimentally until I came into contact with a huge, dark filing cabinet, I lined my shoulder up and pushed my body weight, slowly the cabinet slid across the floor, allowing the door to open. I stood still for a second, stretching my arms out after pushing the cabinet, I shot a glance at Dean, "Thanks for the help, by the way." I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Anytime." Dean smirked in response and I scoffed, glancing around the room, noticing for the first time how messy it was: drawers and filing cabinets were pushed over, the papers strewn haphazardly everywhere, the desk was overturned and the chair was missing a leg, it was stacked precariously against the wall.

We had several minutes of searching the room, I was combing over the papers on the desk when Dean broke the silence, "This is why I get paid the big bucks." He said in a smug tone, I looked up to find he had loosened a panel on the wall and found a satchel full of papers.

"What's in it?" I asked, abandoning the desk and making my way over to the older Winchester, he prised open the satchel and gave a huge smile as he held up an old, leather journal.

"Jackpot." He smirked and jumped up on the filing cabinet, I followed suite and frowned as I read the journal over his shoulder, "Well, all work and no play makes Dr. Ellicott a _very _dull boy." He frowned, I smiled and opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by a noise, causing us both to jump and look up quickly.

"I think," I said in a soft voice, "That we should go find Sam."

"Agreed." Dean replied, jumping off the cabinet, he held his hand out and I took it, and together we stepped out the office quickly and walked quickly down the corridor, following the route we took to get to the room to get back to Sam.

There were murmurs around the corner up ahead, we figured it was Sam listening to another voicemail from Jessica and stepped around it, "Shit!" Dean exclaimed suddenly, his arm wrapping around my waist and yanking me back as a shot fired, it hit the wall and dust rose from it in a musty smoke.

"What the fu-."

"Damn it, damn it, don't shoot! It's us!" Dean cut me off, calling towards Kat and Gavin, who were meant to have left ages ago.

"Sorry! Sorry." Kat squealed, I exhaled deeply and ran a hand through my long dark hair, slowly, Dean and I stood up and walked around the corner.

"Son of a..." Dean trailed off as he looked at the marks the shot had left on the wall, he brushed his hand over them and then turned to the shaking teenagers, "What are you still doing here?! Where's Sam?" He demanded, I frowned, suddenly noticing Sam's absence from the group.

"He went to the basement, you called him." Gavin answered Dean uneasily.

I frowned, "What? We didn't call anyone."

"His cell phone rang. He said it was you." Kat shrugged.

I glanced at Dean and tilted my head, "Basement, huh?" Dean nodded and grabbed the duffel he had left with his brother, zipping it open and pulling out several weapons, handing me a handgun as he did so, I checked the safety and slid it in the waistband of my trousers.

"Alright, watch yourselves, and watch out for us." Dean sighed and led me down the hall.

"Wait – where are you going?" Kat called to us.

"Where do you think? Downstairs." I answered back before we retreated around the corner. We passed through the South wing and made our way to the central part of the asylum, we found the basement stairs with the door ajar, a rusted chain was broken beside it, "Do you think Sam's down there?" I whispered.

"It's worth a try." Dean shrugged and went through the door, I glanced behind us before following him down the concrete steps, before we reached the bottom Dean switched a torch on and shone the beam around, clearing away the dark abyss the lay below us.

"Sam?" I called uncertainly into the gloom.

"Sammy? Sam, you down here? Sam? Sam!" Dean called out, straying away from me, I frowned and kept close to him, I searched the dark with him but sighed in defeat. We turned back and the tall figure of Sam stood there in front of us, Dean and I instinctively jumped, my hand went to my handgun and Dean raised his shotgun in defence. "Man, answer us when we're calling you!" Dean breathed.

"Are you ok?" I asked the younger brother, peering up at him closely.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Sam answered, but it seemed almost... robotic.

"You know it wasn't me who called your cell, right?" Dean spoke up.

"Yeah, I know. I think something lured me down here." Sam nodded, glancing behind him.

"I think we know who: Dr. Ellicott. That's what the spirits have been trying to tell us. You haven't seen him, have you Sam?" I asked.

"No." Sam shook his head, "How do you know it was him?"

"'Cause we found his log book. Apparently he was experimenting on his patients. Awful stuff – makes lobotomies look like a couple of aspirin." Dean explained with a shudder.

"But it was the patients who rioted." Sam frowned in confusion.

"Yeah. They were rioting against Dr. Ellicott. Now, Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of, like, extreme rage therapy." Dean explained.

"Yeah, he thought that if he could his patients to vent their anger then they would be cured of it, but instead it only made them worse and worse and angrier and angrier." I took over.

"Anyway, we're thinking that maybe his spirit is doing the same thing. You know; the cop, the kids in the seventies – making them so angry they become homicidal..." Dean trailed off and his eyes widened, "Come on, we gotta find his bones and torch them."

"How? The police never found his body." Sam frowned again.

"The log book said he had some sort of hidden procedure room down here somewhere where he'd work on his patients. So, if I was a patient I'd drag him down here and do a little work on him myself." I shrugged.

Sam pulled a face, "I don't know, it sounds kinda..."

"Crazy?" Dean answered.

"Yeah." Sam sent me a small smile.

I frowned and opened my mouth to reply, but Dean held up his hand, cutting me off, "Yeah. Exactly." He said, walking down the hallway, there was a door at the end of it. Dean opened it and peered inside, then he motioned for us to follow.

We entered the room and by the looks of it, it seemed like Dr Ellicott's office; there were desks and filing cabinets everywhere, filers and folders were in small, ramshackled piles on chairs. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, instantly a soft amber glow warmed the surroundings, "I told you, I looked everywhere. I didn't find a hidden room." Sam told us, Dean was by the wall, running his hand over the surface.

"Well, that's why they call it hidden..." He trailed off and held up his hand, Sam and I stayed silent watching him, "You hear that?" He asked.

I strained my ears and heard a soft whooshing sound, the unmistakeable sound of a draft, "What?" Sam frowned and I looked at him incredulously.

"You can't hear that?" I asked him, amazed.

Meanwhile Dean had crouched down and held his hand out not five centimetres away from the wall, "There's a door here." He announced, I stepped over and crouched beside him, the flame illuminated the distinct outline of a small door.

We suddenly heard a gun click and slowly turned, "Dean, Stephanie," Sam aimed a gun at us, a trickle of blood ran from his nose, "Step back from the door." He said.

Dean and I rose to our feet slowly, our hands out. "Sam," Dean said in a calm, calm voice, "Put the gun down."

"Is that an order?" Sam scoffed, I frowned at the gun and then at Sam.

"Nah, it's more of a friendly request." Dean managed a shaky smile.

"'Cause I'm getting pretty tired of your orders." Sam continued, ignoring Dean's previous comment.

"Sam," I fought to keep my voice from shaking, "Sam, what are you doing?"

The gun swivelled to me, "I know what I'm doing, Stephanie," He spat, "You need to stop babying me, both of you. Jessica died months ago, I'm fine about it – you need to move on."

"I knew it. Ellicott did something to you." Dean narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"For once in your life, just shut your mouth." Sam snapped, the gun moved from me to Dean.

"What are you gonna do, Sam? That gun's filled with rock salt. It can't kill us." Dean tilted his head at Sam.

Sam scoffed and shot at Dean point blank, he blasted backwards through the hidden door and sprawled in the secret room, "No. But it'll hurt like hell."

"Dean!" I called out to him, but he didn't get back up, when I turned back Sam had his gun trained on me, I slowly raised my hands and backed away. "Sam, let's just think about this." I tried.

"Shut up." Sam narrowed his eyes into slits, he stepped closer and I tilted my head, but didn't blink. He came closer and my hands shot out like snakes, attempting to knock the gun from his hands. The gun didn't release from his hold like I had planned, his iron grip stubbornly clung onto the weapon, Sam surprised me by aiming a punch which hit me squarely on the jaw – it was so hard I saw stars. I stumbled back dazedly, clutching my numbing jaw with my left hand, Sam looked at me intently and then he chuckled.

I narrowed my eyes, "What?"

"It's nothing, it's just – for someone who's apparently going to end the world, you're not exactly intimidating, are you?" Sam laughed, "I mean," I kept my gaze on him, my right hand slowly went for the handgun in the waistband of my trousers, "Look at you, you're a seventeen year old girl, for God's sake. It's not exactly imposing, is it?"

My hand found my gun and I whipped it out, at the same time Sam laughed and threw the shotgun down and grabbed something else, he surprised me by charging forward, I cried out as he slammed me against the wall, when I felt something cold against my neck I became silent. Above me, Sam chuckled darkly and slowly moved the hair behind my left ear, "_God_, Stephanie, did you think I was that stupid?" Sam's voice reached my ears, I didn't answer, I didn't even _breathe_. "I remember a while back you mentioned something about how special that jacket of yours was, something about it being armoured." I looked up at Sam unblinkingly, staring into his cute brown eyes – they didn't seem so cute now. "See, I was thinking: why don't we test it?" Suddenly, Sam punched my in the ribs, I winced at the harshness of the blow – if it weren't for this coat I was sure that Sam's hit would've resulted in a broken rib or two. Sam peered at my face and shrugged, "Huh, guess you were right." I opened my mouth to respond but he suddenly grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed it against the wall.

Once, twice, and another time before darkness overtook my vision.

_Dean's P.O.V _

I gasped into consciousness and found myself laying on hard, cold concrete, I blinked a few times as the memories suddenly came flooding back to me, "Sam!" I called out hoarsely, rubbing the back of my head as I did so. I struggled to my feet and turned to see Sam sat on a chair with one leg over the other, as if he was going for a job interview, not in the basement of a haunted asylum. On the floor in front of him was the limp form of Stephanie, her hair was covering half of her face and her eyes were shut, above her eye was a trickle of blood. I frowned at Sam and ran over to her and knelt down, grabbing her wrist and feeling for a pulse. I sighed when I felt the faint flutter of her heartbeat and stood slowly, facing Sam.

Although, it wasn't Sam.

"We have to burn Ellicott's bones and then all this will be over, you'll be back to normal and we can get Steph to a hospital." I told him.

"I am normal," Sam shrugged and gave a smile, "I'm just telling the truth for the first time. I mean, why are you even here? 'Cause you're following Dad's orders like a good little soldier? Because you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?" His smile widened and my frown deepened.

"This isn't you talking, Sam." I urged him.

"That's the difference between you and me. I have a mind of my own – hell, even Stephanie's more independent than you are, when she's not hanging onto your every word, of course..." Sam trailed off and crouched down next to the girl, my jaw tightened when he reached out and brushed the hair from her face carefully, "I guess she's not as pathetic as you are."

"So what are you gonna do, huh?" I glared, trying to keep the fear of him hurting Stephanie from my voice, "Are you gonna kill me? Take Steph?"

"You know what?" Sam sighed heavily and straightened up, I relaxed a little as he stepped over Steph and closer to me, "I am sick of doing what you tell me to do. We're no closer to finding Dad today than we were six months ago."

"Well, then here. Let me make it easier for you," I reached down and pulled my Smith and Wesson from my pocket and handed it to Sam, "Come on. Take it. Real bullets are gonna work a hell of a lot better than rock salt." Sam stared at the pistol in my hand and then searched my face, I thought he'd take one look and then I'd give it away, but his expression didn't change, "Take it!" I urged. He didn't need another word, he snatched up the gun and thumbed the safety, aiming it straight at my face. "You hate me that much?" My voice cracked, "You think you could kill your own brother? Then go ahead. Pull the trigger. Do it!" I shouted, my voice echoed around the room. I closed my eyes and waited for the click, but it didn't come. There was a noise and I snapped open my eyes to see Steph holding a struggling Sam in a strong headlock, her face was calm and her eyes were dark, darker than I'd ever seen them. After Sam dropped, Stephanie crouched down and I swear I heard her say something to him before she snatched up my gun, when she stood back up and faced me, her eyes were lighter. I stared at her as she glanced down at the gun and then froze, "Steph?" I asked cautiously, slowly taking the gun from her suddenly weak grip.

"What – what happened?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"You were out cold, then I you came to and shut down Sam." I shrugged, then I reached over to her and felt for the wound that had bled on her head.

She saw my confused frown, "What are you looking for?" She asked.

"I think Sam hit you in the head, you have blood on your head. But I can't find the head wound." I explained, dropping my hand in a baffled defeat.

"It doesn't matter. We need to burn the doctor's corpse and save Sam." She shook her head and walked past me, I stared at the back of her for a moment before shrugging and following as she began to look for the corpse. She opened all the cupboards and the last one revealed a mummified corpse of the doctor, accompanied with a strong, stomach-churning stench, we both flinched away and stood back from the corpse.

"Oh, that's just gross." I coughed, Stephanie nodded beside me and stepped out the room, "Where are you going?" I called after her.

"You dropped your duffel in the next room, unless you have salt and kerosene in your pockets." The pretty dark haired girl shot me that small smile I loved so much over her shoulder.

"Oh." I murmured in response, glancing back down at the body in disgust as I waited for Stephanie to return with the stuff.

Not two minutes later I was pouring salt over the repulsive body, "Soak it up." I muttered under my breath as Steph proceeded to saturate the body with the petrol. I smiled and wrapped my arm over her shoulders when she threw the empty can away, she clicked her fingers and I watched in awe as a spark flashed and grew into a bright, dancing flame. Before she could set the body alight a gurney came flying towards us and knocked us both to the ground, sending us sprawling to the floor. I blinked away the haze to see Steph struggle against the grip of the mangled, ruined, animated corpse of Dr. Ellicott, she cried out as the psycho grabbed her face, his hands lit up in a brilliant electric blue.

The light intensified and Stephanie's piercing scream got louder, "Dean," She managed, "Finish th-."

"Don't worry," Ellicott cut her off, "I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you all better – even get rid of the darkness in your head." The doctor told her in a creepily soothing tone, Stephanie thrashed under his grip, her screams echoed around the small room. I reached into my pocket and my fingers closed around my lighter, I pulled it out and flicked off the lid, lighting it and throwing it onto Ellicott's corpse. The body was instantly enveloped in a great orange flame and his ghost darkened, his grey face cracked and his eyes darkened into hollow, empty sockets, the figure let go of Stephanie and fell to the floor, crumbling on impact.

"Steph!" I called, running over to her as she collapsed onto the floor, I moved the hair from her face and shook her gently, but she didn't wake up. I fumbled with her wrist and checked her pulse, it was still there.

"Dean?" A confused voice from the doorway prompted me to look up, Sam was stood in the doorway rubbing his head, he stared down at where I was knelt next to Steph in amazement.

"You're not going to try and kill me, are ya?" I asked.

"No." Sam answered in a dull voice.

"Good. Because that would be awkward." I faked a shudder and got to my feet, stooping and scooping up Stephanie in my arms.

"Is she ok?" Sam asked, glancing at the girl's unconscious form in concern.

"I'm sure she's fine, probably just needs to sleep it off." I lied, trying to brush it off.

We left Steph in the back of the car as we said our goodbyes to Kat and Gavin, I'm sure she wouldn't care much if she missed out on it. "Are you sure she's gonna be alright?" Kat asked me, glancing at Stephanie in the back seat.

"Yep." I answered in a monotone voice.

"Ok... Well, thanks guys." Kat shot Sam and I shy smiles.

"Yeah. Thanks." Gavin added.

"No more haunted asylums, ok?" Sam gave them a stern look and I rolled my eyes: no more asylums? Probably no more scary movies for either of them. The teenagers nodded and walked away without another word, Sam and I turned and got into the car in silence, I stared at the steering wheel for a moment. "Hey, Dean?" Sam asked in a soft voice, I turned and looked at him as the early morning sunlight started to shine weakly through the trees. "I'm sorry, man. I said some awful things back there."

"You remember all that?" I asked him in surprise.

"Yeah, it's like I couldn't control it. But I didn't mean it, any of it." Sam responded, not catching my eye.

"You didn't, huh?" I couldn't help but scoff: it had all sounded like he'd meant it all to me, every word.

"No, of course not! Do we need to talk about this?" Sam protested.

"No. I'm not really in the sharing and caring kinda mood. I just wanna get some sleep." I sighed, suddenly feeling drained as I turned the keys in the ignition, the roar the car made as it came to life bought a smile to my lips as we smoothly pulled away from the asylum.

"Speaking of sharing and caring," Sam turned to check if Stephanie was still out of it, "When Steph took me out earlier, she said something really weird to me..."

"Oh yeah? What she say?" I asked Sam, suddenly intrigued.

"She said something like... well, her exact words were: 'Rule number one, when you have the chance to kill me, do it properly. Don't leave me on the floor with the job half-finished.'." Sam murmured, hoping he wouldn't wake Stephanie.

I kept my eyes on the road, "Huh, I wonder what she meant."

"It was weird, man. The way she said it... it was like she was a completely different person." Sam replied.

_Completely different person_... like the way she had looked strangely calm and uncaring as she dispatched Sam so easily. Credit's where it's due, but Sam is a challenge: he's a huge opponent to take out single-handedly. "You know that's funny, the way she looked right after she had knocked you out cold: she was so cool and unaffected by it, Sam. And the way she did it, like it was the easiest thing in the world for her." I muttered to my brother in a soft voice, glancing up in the rear-view mirror to check Stephanie was still asleep. Sure enough, her eyes were shut and she looked so content and at ease.

"Really?" Sam was shocked.

"Yeah, and about two seconds later she was stood there with no idea what had just happened, like she'd just woken up from something." I continued, shooting Sam a worried glance.

"Do you reckon she was just disorientated? I mean, I had just rammed her head into the wall three times." Sam reasoned.

I shook my head in disagreement, "No, you should've seen it, Sam, it's like she had no recollection of what she'd just done. And when that freakshow of a doctor had his hands on her he was saying he was going to get rid of the darkness in her head."

"Do you know what he was talking about?" Sam asked.

"No clue, man." I shook my head and scoffed.

"We'll worry about it later, let's just get Steph onto a proper bed. Then we can all catch up on all the sleep we missed last night." Sam suggested, I nodded and stayed quiet for the rest of the journey.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I woke up to the sound of the car roaring to life, but I kept my eyes shut, my eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each and my body was stiff and tired, a headache flared across my forehead painfully, "Speaking of sharing and caring," Sam broke through the silence, "When Steph took me out earlier, she said something really weird to me..." Sam trailed off and my interest was piqued: I had said something to Sam earlier? - I wasn't even aware I'd taken him out.

"Oh yeah? What she say?" Came Dean's voice, I decided to keep my eyes shut and pretend to be asleep, just to see how their conversation panned out.

"She said something like... well, her exact words were: 'Rule number one, when you have the chance to kill me, do it properly. Don't leave me on the floor with the job half-finished.'." Sam struggled to explain, his answer was in a quiet voice in an attempt to be quiet enough so I wouldn't be able to hear. His attempt failed. My mind was whirling: I didn't remember saying anything like that to Sam, but I knew who it sounded like: it sounded just like...

"Huh, I wonder what she meant." Dean muttered a reply.

"It was weird, man. The way she said it... it was like she was a completely different person." Sam continued in a low voice, my insides went cold on _completely different person. _

Dean was quiet for a moment, I wished I knew what he was thinking at that moment, "You know that's funny, the way she looked right after she had knocked you out cold: she was so cool and unaffected by it, Sam. And the way she did it, like it was the easiest thing in the world for her." He finally replied in a quiet tone. I fought to keep my expression as unaware as possible, but really my adrenaline was pumping: they were talking about me, but it _wasn't _me, not really...

"Really?" Sam sounded shocked.

"Yeah, and about two seconds later she was stood there with no idea what had just happened, like she'd just woken up from something." Dean pressed.

I could practically taste Sam's attempt at nonchalance, "Do you reckon she was just disorientated? I mean, I had just rammed her head into the wall three times."

"No, you should've seen it, Sam, it's like she had no recollection of what she'd just done. And when that freakshow of a doctor had his hands on her he was saying he was going to get rid of the darkness in her head." Dean disagreed, I shuddered inwardly: I remembered the doctor placing his all-too-cold hands on the sides of my head, the piercing needles and spikes shot across my mind in a bright blue light, I knew what he was trying to find, he didn't want to get rid of the '_darkness_', he wanted to bring it out and unleash it.

"Do you know what he was talking about?" Came Sam's confused tone.

"No clue, man." Dean sounded defeated, and then he scoffed, I didn't need to open my eyes to know he was shaking his head.

"We'll worry about it later, let's just get Steph onto a proper bed. Then we can all catch up on all the sleep we missed last night." Sam responded, I waited for Dean's reply, but it never came.

I had tried to get back to sleep, I really had. But the headache that had come in the car still hadn't faded, and it toyed with me mercilessly, never allowing me to slip into the appealing unconsciousness of sleep. I layed in a bed beside Dean, from his breathing rate I could tell he was fast asleep, but I knew Sam was still awake. I think Sam knew I was awake too, but he made no efforts to communicate with me, so I didn't either, I think he understood that we both needed to mull over our thoughts in the quiet. The silence was broken by the loud ringing of a phone, my eyes snapped open and I sat up, blinking at the sudden bright motel light and glancing at the phone, it was Dean's, I looked at the older Winchester and waited for him to awaken and answer the phone, but he showed no signs of doing such a thing. I glanced at Sam and he frowned and reached for the phone, confusion crossed his features as he read the number and answered it, "Hello." He greeted in a bored tone, I watched as he listened, frowning when Sam shot up from his bed, "Dad?" Sam whispered.

**Author's Note: ****I'm sorry I was late in updating again! My final year of school is really taxing on me and I've found it hard to find the time to finish this chapter. I also had trouble writing the middle part of the chapter, so please tell me if there are any faults! Ok, I'm going to upload chapter 11 when I have 70 reviews, so if you want this story to continue please comment below! **


	11. Chapter 11

Winchester and Cain

Chapter 11—Scarecrow

**PREVIOUSLY **

**I glanced at Sam and he frowned and reached for the phone, confusion crossed his features as he read the number and answered it, "Hello." He greeted in a bored tone, I watched as he listened, frowning when Sam shot up from his bed, "Dad?" Sam whispered.**

"Are you hurt?" Sam sat up in his bed in panic, "We've been looking for you everywhere," Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "We didn't know where you were, if you were ok."

"Morning." I heard a voice beside me and looked down to see Dean sleepily smiling up at me, he reached up to stroke my cheek and I smiled back.

"We're fine. Dad, where are you?" Sam continued, upon hearing this Dean sat bolt upright, his head whipped around and faced his brother, "What? Why not?" Sam's tone turned suddenly angry.

"Is that Dad?" Dean asked.

"You're after it, aren't you? The thing that killed Mum." Sam accused, there was a pause and I turned to frown at Dean: what was he talking about? "A demon? You know for sure?"

"A demon?" I echoed, confused, "What's he saying?"

"You know where it is?" Sam continued, ignoring Dean completely, "Let us help!" He suddenly demanded in a loud voice, making Dean and I jump, "Why not?"

Dean held his hand out to Sam, "Give me the phone."

"Names? What names, Dad – talk to me, tell me what's going on." Sam ran a hand through his dark, shaggy locks, "No. Alright? No way." He shook his head frustratedly.

"Give me the phone." Dean asked again, a little forcefully this time. Sam turned his back on us stubbornly, the room fell silent and a commanding male voice could be heard on the other end of the speaker, after a few more seconds he suddenly grabbed it from Sam's hand, wrenching it from his grip and standing up and walking away.

"Dad, it's me. Where are you?" Dean spoke quickly, I glanced at Sam and then back at Dean as he nodded at the phone, "Yes sir," My eyes widened in alarm as I heard Dean's tone change, "Uh, yeah, I got a pen. What are their names?" Dean ignored us as he snatched up a pen on a nearby table and began to write something down on a scrap of paper.

We had left the shabby hotel room soon after the call had ended, there was no conversation: Dean immediately started packing and herding us out the door. Needless to say Sam and I weren't happy about it. Least of all Sam. "Alright, so, the names Dad gave us – they're all couples?" The youngest Winchester shot his brother a doubtful look as we drove down an empty road.

"Three couples. All went missing." Dean nodded once, his gaze transfixed on the road.

I leant forward in my seat, "And they're all from different towns – different states?" I asked.

"That's right. You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again." Dean answered, I nodded and cleared my throat as the car fell into an uneasy silence.

"Well, it's a big country, Dean. They could've disappeared anywhere." Sam reasoned with a small shrug of his large shoulders.

"Yeah, could've," Dean tore his gaze from the road and looked at his brother, "But each couple's route took them to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another."

"And this is the second week of April." I piped up.

"Yep." Dean switched his gaze back to the road again.

"So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" Sam asked, frowning at his brother in utter amazement.

"Yahtzee. Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different bits Dad had to go through? The man's a master." Dean gushed, Sam sighed irritably and shook his head.

"Right, I can't take this anymore. Pull over." Sam said with an annoyed expression.

Dean frowned as the car slowed and pulled off on the side of the road, "Why?" He asked as he turned the car off.

"Dean, we're not going to Indiana." Sam stated.

"We're not?" Dean frowned, casting a confused glance at me in the back seat.

"No, we're going to California," Sam explained, "Dad called from a payphone – Sacramento area code."

"Sam -." Dean tried.

"Dean," Sam cut his brother off, "If this demon killed Mum and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help."

"Dad doesn't _want _our help." Dean argued.

"I don't care." Sam shrugged, I stayed quiet and watched as the brothers both grew frustrated towards eachother.

"He's given us an order." Dean frowned.

"I don't care," Sam groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh, "We don't always have to do what he says."

"Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs – save lives. It's important." Dean told him.

"Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge." Sam responded, Dean scoffed and looked back at me.

"Are you hearing this?" He asked me, I held my hands up.

"Hey, don't ask me, it's not my place." I said, Dean rolled his eyes and looked back at his brother in the front seat.

"Alright," Dean sighed heavily, "Look, I know how you feel."

"Do you?" Sam snapped in reply, my eyes widened at his sudden aggressive tone, Dean looked taken aback, "How old were you when Mum died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?" Sam seethed, Dean stared at him, shocked.

"Dad said it wasn't safe," Dean raised an eyebrow, "For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something we don't, so if he says to stay away – we stay away."

"I don't understand the – the blind faith you have in the man. It's like you don't even question him." Sam huffed.

"Yeah, it's called being a good son!" Dean shouted, there was a pause, Sam shook his head and opened the door on his side and got out, Dean and I exchanged a glance and followed him out. Sam had opened the trunk and was getting his rucksack and bag, "You're a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don't care what anybody thinks." The elder brother glared at Sam and I shoved him a little.

"Dean," I gave him a look, "Stop it."

"No, no, no." Sam held his hand up, cutting me off, "That's obviously what you really think, Dean."

"Yeah, it is." Dean nodded coldly.

"Well," Sam narrowed his eyes, "Then this selfish bastard is going to California." He turned away from us, slinging on his backpack as he did so.

"Come on, you're not serious, Sam." I walked over to him and tugged on his arm.

He whirled furiously and towered over me, "I am serious." He snapped, shoving me away from him angrily.

"Sam, stop it!" Dean called to Sam's retreating figure, "Come on, it's the middle of the night! I'm taking off with Steph, I will leave your ass, you hear me?" Sam halted and turned around.

"That's what I want you to do." Sam glared at his brother.

I shook my head, "Guys, stop it, come on." I tried, but I was ignored.

"Goodbye, Sam." Dean said, I looked back at Dean but didn't move towards him, instead I turned back to Sam and held my hand out.

"You don't have to leave, we can figure something out." I begged, looking at him with sad eyes.

Sam stared at me and then sighed, "Go with Dean, Steph."

"Not without you." I said stubbornly.

"Steph, let's go!" Dean called to me, I glanced back at Dean and then at Sam again, torn. Sam rolled his eyes and walked over to me, and for that second I thought he was changing his mind. But he merely pushed me towards Dean and the car. Someone was tugging on my arm, pulling me towards the car, I looked up and saw Dean and started struggling.

"Dean let go!" I protested, but he used his other arm to clamp my free arm, "We can't leave Sam!"

"He doesn't wanna come along, Steph. We gotta go." Dean said, ignoring my struggles. "Goodbye, Sam." He called over his shoulder to his brother in a dull, dejected voice. He pulled me towards the car, shutting the trunk and opening the passenger door, "Get in the car, Steph." He ordered.

I shook my head and crossed my arms, "Not without Sam."

Dean rolled his eyes and bundled me into the passenger seat, strapping me in and slamming the door shut, as soon as he walked away from the door I unclipped the seatbelt and clambered into the back seat. Dean got into the drivers seat and sighed when he looked into the rear-view mirror, "Steph, why are you in the back?"

"Because I don't sit in the front: that's Sam's seat." I told him blankly, then turned and stared out the window, ignoring him completely as we pulled away.

It was mid-morning when we pulled up outside a modest diner with a big sign with the American flag on it, on the sign it read:

**SCOTTY'S CAFE **

Dean turned the engine off and stretched, yawning as he took his phone from his pocket and flipped it on, I looked over his shoulder and saw he was thinking about dialling Sam, I looked up and silently willed him to do it: to ring him and apologise, to put all their differences aside because they were family. But none of that happened, Dean shut off his phone and got out the car, before he closed his door he peered in at me, I resumed my position of crossing my arms and not looking at him. "Come on, let's go get breakfast." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dean give me a smile. I didn't reply and kept my gaze fixated on a bird wandering out on the road, "Are you gonna stare out that window forever? Come on." Dean's smile got wider but I didn't respond, after a few more seconds he sighed and shut the door, I focused my attention back on the bird, it was pecking absent-mindedly at the ground. My view of the bird was suddenly blocked by Dean, he opened the door and crouched until he was at my eye level, "I know you can't stay mad at me forever, Steph." He pointed out.

"Yes I can." I replied, although a smile played on my lips.

"No you can't. It's impossible to stay mad at me. You know, because I'm me." He smirked, I glanced at his face and rolled my eyes.

"I hate you." I said as my smile grew wider.

"No you don't. Now let's go." Dean stepped back and I got out the car, it felt good to stretch my legs after a long car journey.

On the porch of the diner there was a man in his late forties sat enjoying the morning air with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, he watched us with calculating eyes as we approached him. "Let me guess," Dean smiled in greeting and pointed to Scotty, "Scotty."

The man looked up at the big sign above his head, "Yep." He nodded, his voice gruff.

"Hi, my name's John Bonham and this is my girlfriend, Alison Plant." Dean introduced us with a friendly smile.

"John Bonham..." The man echoed thoughtfully, taking a drag from his cigarette, "Isn't that the drummer from Led Zeppelin?" He turned and looked at me, "And Alison was the name of Robert Plant's sister, right?"

Dean stared at Scotty with a shocked expression, "Wow. Good. Classic rock fan."

"What can I do for you, John?" The old man asked, Dean dug in his pocket and produced two crumpled bits of paper, they were the Missing Person flyers for the couple who went missing.

"We were wondering if, uh, you'd seen these people by any chance." Dean answered.

Scotty took a long look at each picture, "Nope. Who are they?"

"Friends of ours. They went missing about a year ago, and they passed through somewhere around here. We've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem and -."

"Sorry," Scotty cut me off and shoved the flyers back into my hands, "We don't get many strangers around here." He explained a little too hastily for my taste, I narrowed my eyes as Dean nodded.

"Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room, anybody ever tell you that?" Dean's sudden comment threw us all off, Scotty and I stared at him in confusion, "Never mind," Dean chuckled and then grabbed my hand, pulling me away, "See you around." He called to the old man on the steps.

Dean and I found a small petrol station a little way down the road from the diner, it was owned by an ageing couple, Stacy and Harley Jorgeson, and a girl who was around Sam's age called Emily. "You sure they didn't stop for gas or something?" Dean inquired as he Stacy and Harley studied the photos.

The couple shook their heads, "Nope, don't remember 'em. You two said they were friends of yours?" Harley replied in a scratchy but friendly tone.

"That's right." I nodded, Emily came downstairs carrying a box in her hands.

"Did the guy have a tattoo?" She asked.

"Yeah, he did actually." I nodded slowly, Emily looked over Harley's shoulder at the pictures of the missing couple.

"Don't you remember?" She looked up at the couple in confusion, "They were just married."

"You're right," Harley snapped his fingers, a sudden wide smile spread across his face, "They did stop for gas, weren't here for more than ten minutes."

"You remember anything else?" Dean directed the question at Harley, but he looked at Emily as he spoke.

"I told 'em how to get back to the interstate. They left town." The man shrugged.

"I see," I nodded, "Could you point us in that direction?"

"Sure." Harley looked at his wife and she smiled kindly.

I sat up in the front of the car next to Dean this time. We drove on in silence down a single road, not even the music was playing. I looked out the window and enjoyed the pretty colours of an early autumn of the orchard that we were driving past. Suddenly there was a whining sound accompanied with some beeping, I glanced at Dean and he frowned, "What the hell?" He said as he slowed down and pulled over. I turned and followed the sound of the beeping, it was coming from a bag in the backseat. I rifled in the bag until I pulled out a small object and showed it to Dean: it was the EMF meter, and it was flashing frantically.

"Is it broken?" I asked as I frowned at the device.

"No, something around here's setting it off," Dean replied, taking the EMF meter from me and holding it out in front of him, "Come on, let's go check it out." He said, I nodded and we got out the car. Dean pressed a button on the meter and it switched off, he pocketed it as we climbed over a fence and entered the orchard. We walked in silence for a few minutes, I had my right hand out and was reading the air, trying to detect anything that could jump out and maim us at any instant. I jumped when Dean tapped my shoulder, I turned to glare at him but he pointed to something up ahead. There was a clearing around the masses of apple trees and in the middle was a scarecrow tied to a post, we walked closer to it and I cocked my head as I studied it: it was dressed in the same haphazard fashion as most scarecrows, and it had a leather stitched head and stitched old clothing, on it's head was an old leather mud-covered hat. Suddenly, Dean broke the silence: "Dude," He announced in a serious tone, "You're fugly." Dean and I caught eachother's gaze and burst out laughing, I leant against a tree for support as Dean tried to gather himself. After the giggling had subsided Dean studied the scarecrow again. He frowned as he was looking up at the scarecrow's left hand, "Hey, Steph? Can you get me that ladder by that tree over there?" He pointed to the area of where the ladder was leant up against a tree, his eyes still fixed on the scarecrow's hand. I shrugged to myself but did as he asked, he steadied it against the post the scarecrow was tied to and climbed up it.

"What are you looking at?" I asked as he began to move the scarecrow's clothing, it rustled in the quiet.

"Shhh." Dean replied, I frowned but stayed quiet as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, he opened it and I saw it was the missing persons flyer for the missing man, Vince. Dean held the picture up and compared it with the scarecrow's left limb, "Huh." Dean muttered as he stuffed the picture back in his pocket.

My frowned deepened, "What is it?"

Dean didn't answer, instead he looked up at the scarecrow, "Nice tat."

I stared at Dean confusedly as we drove back to the petrol station, "So, the scarecrow had a... tattoo." I said slowly.

"Mmmhmm." Dean nodded as he kept his eyes fixed on the road.

"And it's the same one as the guy who went missing?" I pressed, Dean nodded again as the car slowed as he pulled into the station.

"So it's the scarecrow. Although maybe it's a scarecrow that's – that's _not _a scarecrow." I realised, the car came to a complete stop and Dean turned to look at me.

"Exactly. We need to ask around and find out more about the creepy hay-man. Starting with -." Dean cut off and pointed out the window, I followed his finger and spotted Emily, she was stood with her back to us and was busying herself with the petrol pumps. Dean and I got out the car, I stretched gratefully in the sunlight as Emily turned to us.

"You're back." She noted.

"Never left." Dean shrugged in response.

"Are you still looking for your friends?" She asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"You mind filling her up there, Emily?" Dean asked, the girl shrugged and grabbed a pump, Dean stepped away from me and carefully opened the fuel hatch on his gleaming black pride and watched with careful eyes as Emily began to fill the car up.

"Did you grow up here?" I asked, frowning at Dean slightly.

"I came here when I was thirteen, I lost my parents – car accident," She added, anticipating my next question.

"I'm sorry," I said sympathetically, "Then what happened?"

"My aunt and uncle took me in." She answered, looking back at the Jorgeson general store.

"They're nice people." Dean complimented.

Emily shrugged and lifted the pump out of the fuel hatch, "Everybody's nice here."

Dean and I followed her as she put the fuel pump back in it's holder, "So, what? It's the, uh, perfect little town?" I asked.

"Well, you know, it's the _Boonies. _But I love it. I mean – the towns around us; people are losing their homes, their farms. But here? It's almost like we're blessed." Emily answered, looking down the road and off into the distance, I glanced at Dean and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, have you been to that orchard? Seen that scarecrow?" Dean asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, it creeps me out." Emily laughed, I cracked a smile as I remembered Dean's earlier comment.

"Do you, uh, know whose it is?" I inquired.

"I don't know," Emily shook her head, "It's just always been there."

"Right." I nodded, the conversation died down and I looked away awkwardly.

"Is that your aunt and uncle's?" Dean broke the silence, I looked back and saw he was admiring a red sports car parked a little way off.

"Customer. Had some car troubles." Emily answered.

"It's not a couple is it? A guy and a girl?" Dean pressed, his tone suddenly urgent.

"Mmmhmm." Emily nodded, Dean gave me a look and I nodded.

"Oh, hey, Scotty," Dean called to the ageing man as we entered the diner, "Can I get two coffees, black?" Scotty nodded and walked away, Dean and I smiled at the couple as we approached them, "Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you're at it."

We sat at the table near to the couple, "Hey, how you doing?" I greeted with a big smile, the couple both smiled in return, "Are you two just passing through?" I asked.

"Road trip." The girl nodded.

"Hm. Yeah, us too." Dean piped up.

Scotty walked back over to the couple and refilled their drinks, "I'm sure these people want to eat in peace." He said in a stiff tone.

"Just a little friendly conversation," Dean shrugged innocently, Scotty grunted and walked away, "Oh, and that coffee too, man." Dean called to him, Scotty didn't respond and Dean turned back to the couple, "So, what brings you to town?"

"We just stopped for gas. And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives." The girl explained.

"Is that right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking, we had no idea. He was fixing it for us." The man nodded.

Dean and I exchanged a look, "Nice people." I muttered.

"Yeah," The man nodded, "That's a nice accent, where are you from?" He asked.

"Uh," The question caught me off guard, "I'm from Ireland."

"Huh. And what brings you to America?" The man asked.

"It's a long story," I smiled weakly, glancing at Dean, "So, how long till you're up and running?"

"Sundown." The girl answered.

"Really?" Dean frowned and glanced at me, then back to the couple, "To fix a brake line?" The man nodded, "You see, me and my girl know a thing or two about cars, we could probably have you up and running in about an hour – and we wouldn't charge." Dean tried.

"You know, thanks a lot, but I think we'd rather have a mechanic do it." The girl smiled politely.

"Sure, I know." Dean nodded in understanding and paused, "It's just that these roads – they're not safe at night."

The couple stopped eating and stared at Dean in amazement, "I'm sorry?" The girl coughed.

"We know it sounds strange, but... uh – you might be in danger." I told them.

"Look, we're trying to eat. Ok?" The man shot me an irritated glance.

I narrowed my eyes and shifted in my seat, Dean reached out and put a warning hand on my arm, "Yeah, ok." He said. The couple looked at us worriedly and I glanced at Dean and he sighed, "You know, my brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you'd just buy right into it."

Behind us, the bell above the entrance to the diner chimed, I turned to see who'd entered and quickly turned back around and tapped Dean: it was an officer. "Thanks for coming, Sheriff." Scotty's voice sounded as he walked over to the officer, Dean and I watched as Scotty whispered something to the sheriff, they turned to look at us and we turned away quickly, my eyes widened when I heard approaching footsteps.

"Afternoon," The sheriff greeted the four of us, the couple stared up at the sheriff and then quickly busied themselves with their food, the officer leaned down until he was eye level with Dean and I, "I'd like a word please, you two." He ordered.

"Oh come on," Dean huffed, "We're already having a bad day."

"You know what would make it worse?" The sheriff glared at him, Dean stared up at the sheriff for a moment before he nodded slowly, the sheriff crossed his arms ,"Hmph. There's been a phone call, apparently you two are harassing some customers." He grunted.

"Huh, so we're not allowed a nice, friendly conversation?" I asked innocently.

The sheriff stared at me for a moment, "Right, I'm gonna have to ask you both to leave." He sighed.

I opened my mouth to protest but Dean cut me off: "That's fine, we were just leaving anyway." He said, grabbing my hand and standing up. The sheriff nodded to Scotty and the couple as he followed us out.

"This is ridiculous." I growled under my breath as Dean and I were herded towards the car, the sheriff stood in an imperious stance as he watched us get in the car, Dean pulled away sharply, beeping once to the sheriff before we pulled out onto the main road, "What a dick." I muttered as I looked up and saw the officer watching our departure in the rear-view mirror.

"Don't worry, I reckon that couple's in danger, we're gonna come back and check things out later." Dean assured me as he started fiddling with his stereo.

I was sleepily gazing out the window of the car as we drove back to Burkitsville, we waited until night until Dean thought it was time to get back, I could just about make out the dark outlines of the trees in the orchard where we found the creepy scarecrow. We suddenly passed a dark, distinctive shape with red lights and I frowned, "Dean, go back." I said, sitting up and yawning.

"Huh?" Dean asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"I think, I think we passed something back there. It looked like a car on the side of the road." I told him, Dean nodded.

"Better check it out." Dean murmured, he suddenly turned the steering wheel hard and slammed the handbrake on, the car expertly swerved and skidded until it had spun a half turn, the car jolted to a stop once we were on the other road and facing the other way. We raced to where the car was and parked behind, I checked my ring whilst we jumped out. We ran and cleared the fence in one terrific leap, Dean stayed on his feet whilst I rolled and sprung up – just like Tanith had taught me. We slowed as we reached a small clearing, we paused and tried to listen for something over the sound of our heavy breathing, "Where the hell are they?" Dean huffed.

"Hang on," I splayed my hands out and closed my and concentrated, feeling the air four metres in a circle around us, five metres, six metres, ten metres... "There," I opened my eyes and pointed to the right, "Their up there, running. I think something's chasing them." I told him, we heard a scream and pelted off towards it. We almost collided with them in the dark, they looked at us with wide, scared eyes. "Dean..." I whispered, "Something's up there." I pointed behind the couple.

Dean looked at the couple with hard eyes, "Get back to your car," He ordered, there was a rustling and the couple turned to see the scarecrow approach from the gloom, "Go! Go!" Dean shouted, his tone urgent. The couple didn't need telling a third time, they took off through the trees without another glance behind them. The scarecrow stopped and cocked his head at us; as if he were analysing us, then he started walking towards us. If you could call it walking, it was the combination of an awkward yet strangely confident shuffle and a clumsy lurch. Then it raised it's arm and something glinted. Sickle. Dean flicked the safety off his gun and aimed, a bullet smacked into the scarecrow's torso, it stumbled but it kept going, taking those strange strides – it didn't look awkward and clumsy anymore. Dean fired again and the scarecrow continued, unperturbed. Shadows burst from my ring and slashed savagely at the leather clad figure, it paused and looked down, then made an angry low growling sound.

I glanced at Dean, "Run?"

He fired three last times before the gun made a hollow click, "Son of a-."

"Come on!" I rolled my eyes and snapped my palms out, the scarecrow: now no less than three metres away, was forced back and I grabbed Dean's arm and took the opportunity, pulling him from the clearing and sprinting away. The couple was stood by some trees waiting for us, "What are you still doing here?" I demanded then sighed, "Just go!" The coupled kept going and we stopped and turned, I clicked my fingers and summoned a flame, waiting for the scarecrow to burst out from the trees.

"Is it still there?" Dean asked.

I raised my other hand and splayed my palm, reading the air carefully. Satisfied, I lowered both hands back down, letting the flame die out, "Nah, it's gone."

"Great. Now we can leave." Dean smiled and together we walked back to where the car was, I frowned when I saw the couple still stood by the fence waiting for us, upon seeing us the woman stormed over to us.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, I recognised hysteria in her eyes and gave Dean a glance and walked away, leaving him to deal with the overly-emotional woman. I walked up and leant against the fence next to the man.

"So... that happened." The man coughed awkwardly.

"Yep."

"You gonna tell me what that thing was?" He asked.

"Nope."

There was a pause.

"What about you and that guy? Who are you people?" He pressed.

I glanced at him, "Again, don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."

Dean and I crashed in his car for the night, making sure we parked up anywhere but near the orchard where the creepy, unkillable scarecrow was. I woke up to Dean on the phone to someone, "Yeah, I'm tellin' ya: Burkitsville, Indiana. Fun town." Dean was saying, I stretched and yawned the sleep away.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked him.

"Hang on, Sam." Dean said into the phone, I leant forward eagerly as Dean put the phone on loudspeaker.

"Sam?" I asked hopefully.

"Hey, Steph." I could tell Sam was smiling into the phone.

"Oh thank God," I sighed happily, "Sam, we're gonna need you back pronto." I told him.

"Dean's that bad, huh?" Sam chuckled.

"Yep," I laughed when I saw the look of hurt on Dean's face, "Where are you, anyway?"

"Bus Station waiting for a ride to California, fun times." Sam answered, I could hear the exhaustion in his tone.

"Sounds great," I drawled, "Did Dean tell you what we found down here?"

"Uh, yeah. Some scarecrow killing off random couples or something?" Sam replied.

"Basically. Did he mention how everything in this town is perfect – the lack of disease, fresh crops every year, that kind of thing?" I said.

"Yeah, I don't think it's a spirit animating it," Dean piped up, "I reckon it's a God. Or a pagan God, anyway."

"A pagan God?" I echoed, confused.

"What makes you say that?" Sam asked at the same time.

"Well, the annual cycle of its killings? And the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman – like some kind of fertility right. Think about it, Steph, how the locals were treating that couple." Dean looked at me and I frowned, trying to remember.

"The pie," I realised, "Scotty kept giving them free portions of pie."

"Right," Dean nodded, "Fattenin' 'em both up like a Christmas turkey."

"Gross." I mumbled, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"The last meal," Sam explained, "Given to sacrificial victims."

"Yeah, I'm thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan God." Dean agreed.

"So, you're saying the God possesses the scarecrow..." I said in speculation.

"And the scarecrow takes its sacrifice. And for another year, the crops won't wilt, and disease won't spread." Dean nodded.

"Do you two know which God you guys are dealing with?" Sam asked.

"No, not yet." I shook my head, even knowing Sam couldn't see the gesture.

"Well, once you two figure out what it is, you can figure out a way to kill it." The younger Winchester pointed out.

"Yeah, we know. We're about to hit the local community college," Dean started.

"We are?" I frowned.

"Yep, whilst you were cat napping I booked an appointment with a professor," Dean nodded, "You know, since Steph and I don't have our trusty sidekick geek to do all the research." He added.

Sam laughed and I cracked a grin at the sound of it booming from the phone speaker, "You know, if you guys are hinting you need my help, just ask." He offered.

"We're not hinting anything," Dean shook his head, he glanced at me and I gave him a look. He knew what I wanted him to say next, "Actually, Sam... uh – I want you to know... I mean, don't think..." He trailed off awkwardly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, too." Sam finished for his brother in a sad tone, "And Steph, I'm sorry I shoved you... twice." He added.

"I forgive you, I guess... but I swear: if you try that again, Sam Winchester, I will hit you so hard, your-."

"Ok, ok, that's enough," Dean cut me off with a chuckle, "But joking aside, Sam, I realised that you were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life." He admitted.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked in a disbelieving tone.

"You've always known what you want and you go after it. You stand up to Dad, and you always have. Hell, I wish I – anyway... I admire that about you. I'm proud of you Sammy." Dean finished with a small smile.

"I don't even know what to say." Sam eventually spoke.

"Say you'll take care of yourself." Dean's smile grew wider.

"I will." His brother promised.

"Call us when you find your Dad." I added, scared Dean and Sam were going to hang up.

"Ok. Bye, Dean. See you soon, Steph." Sam replied and then he hung up, Dean and I sat in silence listening to the dial tone.

"Right," Dean sighed heavily, "Shall we hit this college?"

"Yep." I nodded sadly.

"It's not everyday I get a research question on pagan ideology." The college professor looked at Dean and I behind his wide spectacles.

"Yeah, well, it's a little hobby of ours." Dean shrugged.

"But you aid you two were interested in local lore?" The professor asked.

"That's the one." I nodded with a smile.

"I'm afraid Indiana isn't really known for its pagan worship." The professor frowned.

"Well, what if it was imported? You know, like the Pilgrims brought their religion over. Wasn't a lot of this area settled by immigrants?" Dean asked, relaying the quick five minutes research we had done on the Indiana state whilst we were waiting for the professor.

"That is correct." The professor nodded slowly.

"Like that town near here: Burkitsville. Where are their ancestors from?" I pressed.

"Uh, northern Europe, I believe: Scandinavia." The professor took off his large spectacles and cleaned them on his shirt.

"What could you tell us about those pagan Gods?" Dean queried.

"Well, uh, there are hundreds of Norse Gods and Goddesses." The man answered.

"We're actually looking for one, one that could live in an orchard?" I tried.

"I might have some research on forest and woodland pagan worship, they're in my classroom," The professor got up from his chair and walked to the door of his office, then he turned and looked at Dean and I, "If you two would like to follow me, I can show you."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Dean shrugged and got up from his chair, I got up too and we followed the professor down the hall until he led us into his classroom. The professor hastily grabbed a chair and put it next to a ridiculously large bookcase, filled with hundreds and hundreds of thick, dusty books. With a small grunt the man climbed onto the chair and began to read along one of the higher shelves, his finger tracing along the spines of the books as he went.

"Ah, here we are." The professor eventually said, he grabbed a large, faded green book and jumped from the chair, "Woods God, right?" He asked as he slammed the book onto the front desk.

"That's right." I nodded.

"Well, lets see." The man said as he leafed through the dusty pages, the pages were either covered with tiny text writings, or illustrated with painstakingly neat ink drawings of figures and animals.

"Wait, wait, wait. What's that one?" Dean pointed to a picture of a scarecrow on a post surrounded by some farmers in a field.

"Oh, that's not a woods God, per se." The professor shook his head.

"'The V – Vanir'?" Dean read the title, the professor nodded and Dean continued, "'The Vanir were Norse Gods of protection and prosperity, keeping the local settlements safe from harm. Some villages built effigies of the Vanir in their fields. Other villages practised human sacrifice: one male, and one female.'" He finished and I tilted my head as I studied the picture, it looked hauntingly familiar to the one that had tried to slash us to death last night.

"Kind of looks like a scarecrow, huh?" I glanced up at the college teacher.

"I – I suppose." The professor nodded.

"'This particular Vanir has it's energy sprung from the sacred tree'?" I finished reading the caption of the picture with a confused glance at the professor.

"Well, pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic." The professor explained.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, feeling the comfortable chill of my necromancy ring on my forefinger.

"So what would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it'd kill the God?" Dean took over.

The teacher chuckled, "Guys, these are just legends we're discussing."

"Oh, of course. Yeah, you're right," Dean and I exchanged a look, "Listen, thank you very much." He smiled and shook the professor's hand, I did the same.

"That's a very intriguing ring you have there." The professor said, looking at my necromancy ring with interest.

"It is, isn't it?" I grinned, looking down at it.

"May I study it for a moment?" The teacher looked up at me behind his large spectacles.

"I'm afraid not, we have to be going." I sent him an apologetic smile, feeling a little uneasy. I backed away from the teacher politely and joined Dean at the classroom door, he opened it and we were met with three men in uniforms, the sheriff struck Dean on the head with the back of his rifle. I cried out when Dean slumped to the ground and backed up into the classroom as the officers advanced, one of them moved forward and tried to restrain me, but his hold wasn't strong enough and I easily slipped out of it, firing an elbow into his face as I did so. He yelled and staggered away, his hands went to his face and clutching his nose, the sheriff and the remaining officer exchanged a look before circling me, their movements were slow and deliberate: cautious.

I glanced at the professor with wide eyes, "Go! Get help!" The professor leant against his desk and crossed his arms, he glanced at the sheriff and I watched in horror as they exchanged a knowing glance, "You're in on it." I breathed.

"Yep. We're all in on it." The teacher grinned. I groaned and smacked my forehead: bad move. The officers struck, the officer moved behind me and gripped my arms behind my back, he kicked the back of my knee and it buckled and I was forced on my knees.

"Motherfu-." I was cut off when the sheriff stepped over and smacked me in the head with his rifle, I saw stars burst along my vision for a second, and then everything faded into black.

"Steph? Steph, come on, wake up!" A voice broke my sleep and I opened my eyes, Dean was crouched beside me, shaking me awake gently.

I sat up groggily, "Those bastards." I growled, rubbing the place where the sheriff had hit me with his stupid gun.

"Are you ok?" Dean asked me, his voice laced with concern.

"Fine." I muttered, standing up in a huff, "Where the hell are we?" I asked, suddenly realising we were stood in the cold and the dark.

"I think it's a cellar." Dean answered, I clicked my fingers and summoned a flame, the warm orange glow illuminated our surroundings.

"Definitely a cellar." I nodded, noting all the random pieces of junk that was scattered around the concrete floor.

"They took my phone, I can't call Sam for help." Dean said.

"Of course they did." I sighed and sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, there wasn't much point standing around: we weren't going to get rescued anytime soon. I stared at the flame in my palm for a moment then frowned, noticing something: "Oh, you have _got _to be kidding me." I groaned.

"What? What's wrong?" Dean asked, walking over to me.

"My ring," I explained angrily, "It's gone."

"What, the, uh, necromancy ring?" Dean asked, I got up and walked over to the entrance of the cellar and rammed my fists against it.

"Fucking bastards!" I screamed, hoping they could hear me.

"Hey, hey, hey. We'll get it back, ok?" Dean offered me a small, unsure smile but I didn't respond, instead I looked down at my hands, my hair moved like a dark curtain over my face as I stared at my shaking hands. They were shaking because I was so angry, but I felt strangely calm about the current situation – that in itself was unsettling.

Dean had taken up the task of trying to open the door, whilst I had decided to stand idly by and bore myself by staring at the wall opposite me, "So," I said, studying my fingernails in one hand and keeping the flame in the other, "Getting sacrificed by a pagan God was not the way I thought I'd die."

Dean grunted, "Well, I don't know, it's classier than killing, I guess."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, then frowned, "But seriously? A scarecrow God? It's gonna sound a little far-fetched written on my grave," I put my hand up, "'Here lies Valkyrie Cain – who was put to death by the scarecrow's bane.'" I moved my hand through the air, counting the letters as I spoke.

"At least it rhymes." Dean muttered, a smile growing on his face.

"Well, what else can it really do? Apart from sounding ridiculous." I shrugged, smiling back. "You should give up on opening that." I added.

Dean looked up at the cellar doors, "Well, I gotta do something to help us get outta here."

"Yeah," I sat cross-legged on the cold floor again, "But you're not _actually _helping us, are you? You're wasting your energy for when we need it."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "And when is that, exactly?"

"Come on, Dean, we've gone up against worse than _people_, surely. Even before I was zapped here – you must have been fighting worse creatures, right?" I asked.

Dean nodded slowly, "I guess..." He abandoned the door and sat next to me, "So tell me, what's the hardest thing you've ever had to do?"

I stretched my arms and exhaled slowly, "Depends, I've been up against some crazy things over the years."

"Like what?"

"I've fought vampires, evil sorcerers, remnants -."

"Wait, wait, wait. What's a remnant?" Dean asked, frowning in confusion as he cut me off.

"Oh, uh... They're basically black evil soul things that go around possessing people, around two thousand of them were locked away, but they all got out, so we had to stop them." I explained briefly.

Dean stared at me with wide eyes, "And, how did you do that, exactly?"

"With a big snowglobe-y hoover thing." I answered with a shrug.

"A – a 'big snowglobe-y hoover thing'?" Dean repeated slowly.

"Yep." I nodded.

There was a brief pause.

"What else did you fight?" Dean asked.

"Uhh, I've killed Gods, this thing called the Grotesquery – a huge hybrid monster surgically made up of various monster body parts and infused with magic," I explained, anticipating Dean's silent question, "And what else? I've fought necromancers, witches... and yetis."

Dean paused, "Yetis?"

"Uh-huh, that about two weeks before I was sent here. One of them tried to eat my head." I nodded.

"What was that like?" Dean chuckled.

"Amazingly not great, their breath was so disgusting." I laughed, shivering at the memory.

"So, what were you doing before you were, uh, 'zapped' over here?" Dean pressed.

"Ummm, well, my partner and I had just defeated this sorcerer who was, like, all-powerful, and my partner and I were just doing the little crimes whilst our government sorted itself out." I shrugged.

"What's wrong with Ireland's government?" Dean frowned.

"What? Oh no, I meant... basically each country has it's own government; the Grand Mage and the two Elders." I explained, "They operate within a Sanctuary, each country has it's own and they keep order in the magical world. The problem was the other countries' governments didn't like how Ireland kept order, and it was all a little tense."

The older Winchester nodded slowly, "I guess that makes sense."

"I hope it does, because I am _not _explaining it again." I smirked and then frowned, "Someone's coming."

It was true: in the silence the sound of sticks breaking and stones crunching was getting closer, Dean and I stood and readied ourselves for the could-be adversaries. The doors to the cellar slowly opened and a young, plain face peeked through.

"What are you two doing down here?" She asked in a shocked, hushed tone.

"Oh, you know, we hang out in strangers' basements all the time." I drawled sarcastically.

Dean hit me lightly on the shoulder, "You're not helping." He hissed under his breath.

"Neither is she!" I protested.

"How did you get in here?" Emily's frowned deepened, we turned to Emily in confusion.

"You don't know?" Dean asked.

"Why you two are down locked in the basement? Not a clue." The girl shrugged.

"Your whole town is crazy, you know that scarecrow in that orchard? It's the reason why your town is so 'blessed', your town stays perfect all year round, it just requires a little tribute." I explained.

Emily looked at the two of us, puzzled, "Tribute?" She echoed.

"Yeah, and guess who it's gonna be?" Dean replied, walking over to where Emily was stood in the entrance of the cellar.

Emily paled, "What? Then – Then why are you in my aunt and uncle's basement?"

"Well, looks like your aunt and uncle are part of the whole 'lamb to the slaughter' tradition, guess who they lined up for the chop?" Despite the situation, I smirked at the girl's naivety.

"Oh my god." Emily gasped, her eyes widening, her hand gripped a discarded chair with a broken leg.

"Yeah, it's something. But you see: if you were to let us go, we could stop the scarecrow so no one else would have to die, you'd never see us again." Dean reasoned.

"But – my aunt and uncle wouldn't do something like that, they're good people. You – You two must be s-some kind of escaped criminals, or something." Emily shook her head.

Dean and I exchanged a glance, "Believe me, we're innocent. Your aunt and uncle are just crazy pagan worshippers along with the rest of the town." I offered her a small smile but she didn't return it.

"So... you're saying... my aunt and uncle – who I know to be the nicest people in the world by the way, have locked you in the basement and are going to kill you?" Emily spoke slowly, trying to get her head around it.

"Sacrifice us," Dean corrected, then looked at her sympathetically, "You really didn't know anything about this, did you?"

"About what? My adopted parents being psycho killers? The scarecrow? I can't believe this." Emily laughed, although I recognised the hysteria in her eyes: she was going into shock.

"Technically the scarecrow's an ancient pagan God, but yeah, you better start believing. Because we need your help." I replied.

I expected her to run, to back away from us as her wide eyes darted wildly between us. But she didn't, to my surprise she took a deep breath and looked up at us with shining eyes, "Okay." She breathed.

"As Stephanie mentioned earlier, we can destroy the scarecrow. But we have to find the tree." Dean gave the girl a comforting smile.

"What tree?" Emily's voice didn't shake this time when she spoke.

"Uh it would be really old," I shrugged, "The locals would treat it with a lot of respect, you know, like it was sacred."

"There was this one apple tree," Emily frowned as she concentrated, "The immigrants brought it over with them, they call it the First Tree."

"Is it in the orchard?" Dean asked.

Emily opened her mouth to answer, but a faint shout from the distance cut her off: "Emily!" It was Stacy, "Emily honey, where are you?"

Emily panicked, "I shouldn't be here." She whispered, tears beginning to pool at her eyes again.

"It's gonna be fine," I assured her, "Just tell us where the tree is and we can stop this."

"I shouldn't." Emily shook her head.

"Emily? Where did you go? I just put your dinner on the table." Stacy called again, her voice was louder this time, closer.

"The tree, Emily," I whispered urgently, "Where is the tree?" I approached her quickly, outside you could hear the noise of stones skittering across the ground as Stacy came closer.

"I – I don't know," Emily sniffed and looked over her shoulder, "I need to go."

"Wait!" Dean protested, but Emily backed away quickly and closed the doors, I raced over and tried to yank them back open, but Emily bolted it shut and I heard the distinctive _click _of the lock in the door.

"You little-." My growl was cut off by Dean clamping his hand over my mouth.

"Shhh." He whispered and we listened as Emily and Stacy conversed outside.

"Emily? What are you doing back here?" Stacy asked.

"Oh me? I – I thought I heard some voices near here, so I came over to see what it was." Emily stuttered.

"Well, trust me Emily, there's noone around here but us," Stacy laughed lightly, "Now go on inside, your uncle put your dinner out on the table for you, we have to go out tonight and finish something, but we'll be back before you know it."

"Ok, that sounds great, I'll see you later, auntie." Emily's footsteps faded away, after a few moments the sound of someone else walking away allowed Dean and I to relax.

"We have to get out of here. Now." I said to Dean.

He nodded in agreement, "Before the crazy bitch comes back with the other sacrificial-happy lunatics."

I laughed and then looked around for something, anything that would be sturdy enough to break through the door. After a few minutes of slowly rotating on the spot I suddenly slapped myself on the forehead, "Oh wow." I scolded myself.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"I'm such an idiot. We've been down here for ages," I walked over to the cellar door, "When all we needed to do was-." I snapped my palms out frustrated and slammed the air into the cellar door entrance, the doors shot out, the padlocks and bolts securing it came apart with a loud, whining _snap _and we were free.

Dean stared at what was left of the doors, "That was-."

"Impressive. We were thinking the same thing." Some shadows stepped out from the darkness outside, I recognised Stacy and Harley, but not the other two.

I sighed and glanced at Dean, "We can_not_ catch a break today."

"Uh-huh." Dean murmured as Stacy stepped forward.

"It's time." She smiled, I frowned and backed away from the door and stood next to Dean, Stacy's smile widened.

The sheriff and some of his officers had volunteered to secure Dean and I to the trees, I recognised them as the officers who had accompanied the sheriff to kidnap us from the college. The officer whose nose I had broken had insisted on handcuffing me, dashing my dream of clicking my fingers and burning through the ropes they had tied Dean to a tree with. The townspeople had picked a clearing with trees littered one side and a fence on the other, the fence had a wide square mesh for wiring and the had put one side of the handcuff through the wire and locked me in it, disabling me from any means of escaping. "How many people have you killed, Sheriff? How much blood is on your hands?" Dean taunted the officer as they finished their handiwork.

"We don't kill them." The sheriff replied in a stiff tone.

"No, but you sure cover up afterwards," I glared up at the sheriff from where I was tied to the fence, "How many cars have you hidden? What about the number of clothes you've probably buried?" The sheriff stared at me for a moment and I held his gaze evenly, he turned away and walked out of the clearing without another word to either myself or Dean. His deputies looked at Dean and us in a wavering alarm, then followed the sheriff from the clearing.

Stacy and Harley were watching Dean and I from a few feet away, "Try to understand – it's our responsibility to protect this town-."

"Oh come _on_!" I rolled my eyes as I cut Harley off, "So what if, if a few crops die or someone loses their home? It happens to everyone, and you can't stop it."

Harley scoffed and exchanged a glance with Stacy, "Well, Sweetheart, it looks like we can stop it. Didn't your parents ever teach you what sacrifice means? Giving up something for the greater good. We need our town safe, and if you two have to die then so be it." I shot daggers at the couple as they turned and walked away.

"I hope your apple pie is freakin' worth it!" Dean shouted to the couple as the dark enveloped them.

"So, have you got a plan?" I asked, demonstrating how restricted my hands were handcuffed to the fence.

"I'm workin' on it." Dean shrugged.

Dean and I spent the next few hours in silence, I watched the moon as it slowly rose up in the dark night sky as the hours passed, in the distance you could hear the faint rustling of dead leaves from last autumn being moved aside as various woodland creatures slunk through the dark. I yawned and looked at Dean, "How's that plan going?" I asked him, Dean shifted a little and I sighed, "You don't have a plan, do you?"

"I'm working on it," Dean shrugged, his tone defensive, "Can you see?" He suddenly asked.

I frowned in confusion, "What?"

"Is he moving yet?" Dean asked again.

"You're asking if I can see the scarecrow in the dark? No, no I can't see it." I rolled my eyes and sighed in exasperation. Suddenly, the trees to my right rustled and twigs snapped under someone's heavy feet, "Wow, just on time, I guess." I managed a shaky smile at Dean. He started grunting and frowning in concentration as he tried to untie the ropes for the umpteenth time that night, the sounds were coming closer and closer and I found my wrists straining against the cuffs, they were rubbing raw already and the soreness made me wince. A large silhouette stumbled from the undergrowth, in the moonlight I saw the figure tilt his head and hope blossomed up within me: it couldn't be... could it?

"Dean? Stephanie?" I closed my eyes against the sudden plummeting disappointment as I recognised Sam's voice. Hang on a moment? Sam? Sam!

"Oh! Oh, I take everything I said back. I'm so happy to see you!" Dean's sudden joy made me smile as I saw Sam go over to his brother and untie his bonds.

"How'd you get here?" I asked, "Not that I'm happy to see you." I added quickly.

"I, uh – I stole a car." Sam mumbled and I grinned.

"Haha! That's my boy." Dean cried out as he stood up from the tree, free. His happiness out the news of crime was unsettling, Sam and Dean hugged and I smiled: everything was normal again.

"Uh, hello?" I jangled the handcuffs to catch the boys' attention, they broke off and looked at me, "If you boys have quite finished." I drawled, holding up my restricted wrists.

"Oh, sorry, Steph." Sam smiled as he approached me, "What's with the handcuffs anyway?"

"I broke a guy's nose earlier, and he insisted that I be cuffed to the fence," I shrugged, "These things hurt like a bitch." I complained, Sam chuckled and crouched down, producing his lockpicks from his pocket.

"Hold still." He ordered, I didn't move a muscle whilst Sam worked on opening the lock, I didn't even breathe to assure his focus. When the cuffs fell free I sighed gratefully and rubbed my red wrists as I stood up, "Oh, and we might wanna keep an eye on that scarecrow – he could come alive any minute." I added.

"What scarecrow?" Sam asked, I looked up and shared an alarmed glance with Dean.

"Torch." I held my hand out to Sam, the younger Winchester fumbled around in his pockets and eventually handed me it, I flicked it on and shone it over where the scarecrow was situated, the beam hit the empty post. "Oh, for God's sake." I closed my eyes and rubbed my eyes tiredly, "This is not our day."

Dean, Sam and I were jogging past the trees, trying to find our way out of the maze of fruit trees as the sky lightened to a pale blue as the morning sun began to emerge. "Alright, now, this sacred tree you're both talking about-." Sam started.

"It's the source of it's power." Dean answered, anticipating his brother's question.

"We need to find it and burn it." I said.

"Nah, in the morning. Let's just shag ass before Leather Face catches up." Dean shook his head, we turned and reached a clearing, a large mob of townspeople with Stacy and Harley at the front.

"Uh, wrong turn – this way." I smiled and we turned to find all the exits blocked off by the town, I waved to the officer with the broken nose, he responded by pulling out his gun and checking the chamber, "How about we come to a compromise?" I offered, turning to Stacy and Harley.

"It'll be over quickly, I promise." Harley assured me.

"You're crazy," I realised, glancing at the townspeople, "You're all crazy."

"Listen, you have to let him take you. You have to-."

"We'll pass." I smiled and grabbed they boys' arms, I half-dragged them towards the main crowd and, "Move!" I screamed at them. The alarmed crowd fidgeted a little as the three of us ran at full pelt towards them, Harley and Stacy stood still with their heads held high, a challenge burned in their eyes as we got closer. At the last moment the mob dived out the way to avoid collision with us, we passed by and I grinned: finally something when right today. Someone roughly grabbed my wrist and I cried out as I was yanked back, my sore wrist screamed in protest against the sudden pressure.

I turned to see my attacker and came face to face with Harley, I tried to wrench my arm away but I couldn't free myself from his surprisingly iron grip. Plan B, I guess. I reached up with my left hand and jabbed him twice in the throat, Harley coughed and the grip was gone. I rubbed my wrist and noticed the lack of ring on my finger, I missed it, and I wanted it back. I knew I should've stopped, but something else was telling me different.

_They took your ring. They need to be punished. _

As Harley recovered I approached him with slow, meaningful steps. When he stopped spluttering he turned around to meet my palm smashing into his face, there was a _crunch _and Harley screamed, blood pumped from his nose and he fell back. I smiled and advanced, kicking the back of Harley's knee, it buckled and he went down, I stood over him as the ageing man wailed.

_Do it. Kill him. _

I knelt down, from a little way away someone was calling my name, "Steph? Stephanie! What are you doing?" It was Dean, a part of me wanted to look around, but another part of me wanted payback.

And that part was stronger.

Someone gave a loud, banshee-like screech and shoved me, the quick part of my brain reacted and I rolled and came up. Stacy had a long, wicked blade gripped in her right hand, it glinted menacingly in the early morning light as she stalked towards me, the townspeople had formed a tight-knit circle around us, as Stacy and I circled eachother I glimpsed Sam and Dean looking at me with shocked expressions. I smiled menacingly at Stacy and lunged quickly, my hands lashing out like snakes as one hand wrapped around her throat and the other hand on the hilt of the knife.

_That's it. Just take the knife and kill the old lady. Do it. Do it now. Now._

There was a headache pounding away in my temples as I struggled with Stacy, she staggered, unbalanced and pulled me to the floor with her, she wrenched away from my choking grip and bought her other hand up to try and claw my eyes out. I flinched back and we suddenly rolled, she landed on top and used both hands to tear the blade away from me. Her green eyes were bright with murderous rage as she held the knife above my head, ready to furiously bring it down for the killing blow.

And then she bought it down.

_You need to move. Now._

At the last moment I raised my pelvis and threw Stacy off balance, I wriggled and got out from under her and jumped up, she got up with me and I met her jaw with a vicious punch; not enough to knock her unconscious, but enough to give the brain a little shake to disorientate it. There was a sickening sound behind us and the crowd screamed, I turned to see the scarecrow with his bloodied sickle poking out through a dead Harley's chest, Stacy let out a broken cry of anguish and leapt at me, I cried out in surprise and felt a surge of anger and threw her off, shoving her into the arms of the scarecrow. The crowd fell into a terrified silence and the scarecrow gripped Stacy as he slowly pulled his long, nefarious blade from Harley's corpse. Harley dropped to the floor like a puppet with it's strings cuts, the crowd dispersed and ran as the scarecrow raised the blade above Stacy's head. I stood, frozen, as the blade came down and claimed Stacy's head in one smooth motion, the scarecrow let go of Stacy's body and it dropped, landing next to her husbands. Stacy's head, however, tumbled and rolled to a stop less than a metre away from me, I stared at the finely severed neck wound and found I couldn't draw my gaze. Someone gently grabbed me and pulled me into a tight embrace, one hand around my waist and the other stroking my head, "Come on, Steph, let's get outta here." It was Dean again, I blinked slowly and looked up at him.

"I didn't mean to shove her that way," I whispered, "I-."

"Shhhh," Dean hushed me, "It's ok. But we need to leave." He held me close as he guided me away, the scarecrow had long since disappeared, as had the townspeople. When we reached the single road there was a lone car parked, Sam delved into his pocket and pulled out some car keys, as he unlocked the car Dean gently led me over to the vehicle and opened the door. I felt so... detached, like my body was just going through the motions, operating on autopilot whilst my brain floated in a very confused and lethargic fog. Once everyone was in the car and the doors were closed, Sam and Dean turned round to look at me.

"Steph?" Sam asked in a cautious tone.

"Mmm?" I responded, staring straight ahead of me.

"Are you, uh, are you ok?" He continued, I sighed and focused on him.

"I'm fine." I managed a small smile, hoping they boys would believe it.

The brother glanced at eachother, "Well... If you say so." Dean said in a hedged tone.

"Can we destroy the tree later? I just wanna get a few hours before coming back here." I asked.

"Yeah, we'll book into somewhere in the next town over and come back tomorrow." Sam nodded and started the engine, I didn't look back at the orchard as we drove away quickly.

We arrived at the orchard in the morning, but the sun was well in the sky as the three of us finally stumbled upon familiar surroundings. "This looks sort of familiar." I mumbled as we walked passed the fruit trees. We rounded a corner and I stopped short; a few metres away was the scarecrow, on it's post like traditional scarecrows were. But this wasn't a traditional scarecrow. The three of us approached it slowly, ready to run if the scarecrow so much as lifted a leather-clad finger, when we were a few steps away we stopped and stared at the scarecrow.

"I'm bettin' if the sarecrow's here, then the tree must be around here somewhere. Let's keep looking." Dean suggested, the brother's walked away whilst I looked intently at the monster, my eyes fell to it's sickle and my heart lurched when I saw it was still stained with a dark crimson.

_Well, we know who's blood that is._

"Come on, Steph, let's get away from here." Dean walked back over to me, I turned to him and nodded, "Sam thinks he's found the tree over here." He continued, sending me a bright smile as he led me away from the post.

We found Sam stood next to the tree Sam thought was the right one, it was notably larger than any of the other trees, and stood proudly amidst them all, upon closer inspection there was a carving marked onto the trunk, I recognised it as the same design that was on the scarecrow's arm.

"Hand me the gasoline, Dean." Sam held his hand out while I traced my finger lightly over the engraving. Dean unzipped the duffel bag he had slung over his shoulder and rifled through it until he found what he wanted, he threw it to Sam and I stood back whilst he doused the trunk and some branches with the petrol, once he was done he threw the can aside and I clicked my fingers, summoning a bright flame in my palm. I aimed carefully and threw the fireball at the tree, it hit the trunk and caught aflame instantly, I stepped back ad found Dean's hand as the three of us watched it go up in flames.

"I'll just be two minutes, I need to get something of mine." I called back to the boys, I'd convinced them to stay in the car, but as I was roaming the empty halls of the local college I found myself wondering why I'd asked them to stay in the car in the first place.

_Because I wanted you to._

I sighed and rubbed my temple where a headache was forming, and pushed open the door that I wanted. The college professor was sat at his desk, pouring over a large, thick book on top of the desk. I walked up to the desk quickly, careful to keep my footsteps silent. When I reached the desk I pushed over the pencil pot, the stationary spilled out and clattered to the floor. The professor jumped and looked up from the book he was reading. "It's – it's you!" He exclaimed, standing up so quickly his chair shot out from under him.

"You remember me, that's good." I nodded and gave him a calculating smile.

"L-look, I didn't sell you out – it wasn't me, I swear!" He cried.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Look, I don't care what you did. I just want what you stole from me."

"Stole, stole what?" The professor stuttered.

"You know what, and I want it back." I narrowed my eyes.

"I – I don't know what you're talking about." The man looked at me with wide, fearful eyes.

"Right, I'll clear it up for you, shall I? My ring that you were so interested in, you stole it from me." I glared at him, raising my voice over the pounding in my head.

"I, uh-."

"Look," I leaned in over the desk, "I'm stronger than you, and I have every intention of hitting you over my ring." I whispered.

The professor paled, "I – I think I have seen it around here somewhere." He edged around the desk carefully and walked over to the cupboards on the far side of the room. He opened a draw and moved some contents around inside it and eventually brought out a small box.

"Give it." I held my hand out impatiently as I walked over to the cowering man.

"You know I was only keeping it for, ah, safe keeping." The professor smiled weakly.

"Stop talking." I rolled my eyes and snatched the box from his sweating grip, I sighed as I opened it and slipped the ring on, smiling a secret smile as I felt the welcoming chill of the necromancy magic. "Do you have any idea how precious this ring is to me?" I whispered, looking up at the professor under my thick lashes.

"No, it just – it just interested me, that's all." The professor shrugged.

_Do it._

"Without this, I couldn't do _this_." I caught the shadows from the room and they swung up and slashed across the professor's torso. The professor screamed in pain, I staggered away and clutched my head as the pounding in my head got so loud it seemed like my head was about to explode. I took one more breathe and when I exhaled, I wasn't me.

Darquesse smiled when the dropped to the floor, blood pooled out on the floor and Darquesse's smile widened and she stretched, enjoying the freedom from being locked away in Valkyrie's head – or Stephanie, as she went by these days. She looked down at the man and watched in fascination as his life slowly bled out of him onto the floor, out of boredom she waved her hand and a sharpened shadow opened up his throat. He died choking on his own life-force. Without another look at the professor's fresh corpse, Darquesse turned and exited the classroom, shutting the door behind her. She smiled as she looked out the window's of the college: a new reality – just waiting to be completely obliterated. Darquesse sighed when she thought of the Winchesters, she couldn't decide whether they were convenient for her to keep around or not. "Steph?" Someone was calling her name, or at least, her _old _name, "Come on, Steph, this isn't the time for hide and seek." Darquesse smirked when she recognised the voice as Dean, Valkyrie's - or Stephanie as she went by these days – new love interest. Darquesse could see the appeal of course, but she knew that she would be the one to most likely kill him and his brother. Not now, but in the long run – when she had her plans straight and her options open: it couldn't hurt to allow Valkyrie be her pretend self for a little while more. Sam seemed different to Dean though, apparently having unusual psychic dreams that come true. Darquesse knew she'd have to keep an eye on the younger Winchester, in case he proved to be a threat to her. Footsteps entered the hallway and Darquesse exhaled and drifted away.

I blinked and frowned: how did I get to the window? I turned and was met with Dean, he had that smirk on his face and I pulled him into a tight hug. "What's this for?" Dean chuckled as he hugged me back.

"Nothing, really. Just feeling better." I answered, it was true: that headache I had been experiencing over the past few days had gone, and I welcomed the rare peace in my head for once.

"Well, that's great. But we wanna get going, so..." Dean trailed off and I looked up at him and nodded.

"Then let's get going, I'm so done with this pagan loving town anyway." I let go of him and he took my hand, we exited the college and I squinted in the bright sunlight and grinned when I spotted Sam leaning against Dean's car.

"Hey, do you think Emily's gonna be alright?" Dean wondered as we approached his brother.

I shrugged, "I know she lost her crazy aunt and uncle, and they were the only parental figures she had – but she didn't let us out when we asked, so I can only be so sympathetic."

"Fair enough." Dean nodded, we stopped in front of Sam and I pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I missed you too, Steph." Sam chuckled and patted me on the back.

I laughed, "You know how much I hate hugs, Sam Winchester, so shut up and hug me."

"What? You literally just hugged me like, two minutes ago!" Dean protested from beside us.

"Yeah, but you're the exception." I rolled my eyes and scoffed, stepping out of the hug with Sam.

"You know you guys are forgetting something." Sam said, changing the subject.

"Forgetting what?" Dean frowned.

"The rest of the townspeople – they'll just get away with what they've been doing." The younger Winchester pointed out.

Dean and I exchanged a glance, "Well, what'll happen to the town will be punishment enough," Dean concluded and I nodded in agreement, "So, can I drop you off somewhere?" He asked his brother.

"What?! You're not leaving us again are you?" I demanded, looking at Sam with wide eyes.

Sam put his hands in his pockets, "Steph, it's fine. I think you're both stuck with me, actually."

I relaxed whilst Dean cocked his head, "What made you change your mind?" He asked.

"I didn't," Sam shook his head, "I still wanna find Dad, and you're still a pain in the ass." A smile played at the corners of his mouth at his comment, "But, Jess and Mum – they're both gone. Dad is God knows where and you, me and Steph? We're all that's left. So, if we're gonna see this through, we're gonna do it together." He finished solemnly.

Dean and I paused and looked at eachother, the Dean reached out and wrapped his arms around his brother, "Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful." He gushed, Sam shoved him away and we all laughed.

"Hey! You both should be kissing my ass. You were dead meat, guys." Sam smirked.

"Yeah, right. I had a plan – I'd have gotten out." I rolled my eyes scoffed.

"Steph, you were handcuffed to a fence. You weren't going anywhere." Sam raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"You doubt my skill?" I mocked.

The boys looked at eachother, "Yep." They both said.

"What-_ever_," I frowned and crossed my arms, "Just get your ass in the car. Both of you."

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the late update, I've had applications and open evenings to sort out and I've spent most of my time improving my CV and revising for mocks and exams. My life, as you can probably tell, is beyond fun. Ok, so I'm gonna update when I get ten more reviews, I promise I will try and keep on track this time! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter 12 – Faith**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I sighed gratefully when Dean finally parked the car, we all jumped out and stretched, glad to be stretching our legs after a long car journey. Dean was the first to move: going to the trunk and rifling through it, he brought out two tasers and threw them at Sam and I, we caught them just as Dean was brandishing a third. "What do you have these amped up to?" Sam frowned as he looked down at the device.

"A hundred thousand volts." Dean said in a tone full of nonchalance.

"Shit." I muttered, looking nervously at the object I had in my hands.

"Yeah, I want this Rawhead extra frickin' crispy. And remember – you only get one shot with these things so make it count." Dean bought out his handgun and checked the chamber, then went to put it away, but decided against it.

"You guys ready?" I asked, shivering a little at the cold night air.

"Yep. Let's go gank this mother." Dean nodded determinedly.

"Sweet, because I'm frickin' tired, and all I want to do right now is sleep." I replied, yawning as I did so.

The abandoned household was empty upstairs after a thorough check from the three of us, all we found was some ratty furniture and dusty tables and cabinets. I didn't want to think about the state of the kitchen. Sam lead Dean and I down the steps of the basement, they were armed with their guns and torches, whilst I had a gun in my right and a flame flickering excitedly in my hand. Once we reached the bottom of the steps in silence we heard a noise: a slight shift of someone's feet scuffing the floor – or possibly even moving their weight from one foot to the other. Nevertheless it was a noise, and the three of us weren't taking any chances with this monster. The three of us moved stealthily towards the cupboard and surrounded it, Sam and I looked up at Dean for guidance, "On three," Dean whispered, holding up three fingers, "One, two, three."

On three I let the flame go out in my palm and snapped my hand out, the air briefly shimmered and the cabinet door blasted open, Sam and Dean's torch beams instantly caught the faces of a young boy and girl crouching inside. Their small hands were covering their ears and their innocent eyes were wide with fright. "Is it still here?" Sam asked the children in a soft voice.

I holstered my gun and knelt down to the children, holding my hands out with a warm smile, "Here. Take my hands and I'll get you outta here, my friends here will stay here and take down the monster." I told them, the children nodded and grabbed my hands. "Be careful." I told the boy's as I herded the children away, they let go of my hands and grabbed eachothers' when we reached the stairs. "Alright let's go, let's go." I whispered to them as they scampered up the stairs, I was almost halfway up when something grabbed my ankle and pulled me back down, the children screamed in fear and sprinted up to the top of the stairs. I sprawled down the cold stone steps and landed on the hard concrete floor with a groan as my head smacked into the ground.

"Steph!" I heard Dean call out, I slowly raised up onto all fours and pushed myself back onto my feet, I grimaced when I put weight on my left foot and collapsed again. This time I didn't get back up – the room wouldn't stop spinning and black spots danced over my eyes.

Someone rushed over to me and knelt down beside me, "Steph what is it?" It was Sam.

"My ankle," I cringed out how pathetic I sounded, "And the room keeps spinning. I think I hit my head."

There was a loud crash on the other side of the room as Sam picked me up bridle style, his huge hand carefully supporting my head, "Sam, get her and the kids outta here!" Dean yelled.

"Dean no," I mumbled weakly, my ears were buzzing now, "Come with us."

"We have to stop this thing, Sam. Get her to the car!" Dean argued, ignoring my complaints. Sam sighed and turned away, I groaned as I realised we were leaving Dean down there all alone. Sam half-ran out to the car and laid me carefully on the floor next to where the children were.

"I'm gonna go help him, ok, Steph?" Sam asked, brushing a few loose strands from my face.

"That's fine, go get him." I managed, scrunching my eyes as I moved my head back against the car, I could tell the young boy and girl were staring at me, but I was too tired to care: my head felt like it weighed a ton, and my heartbeat was beating away far too loudly for my liking. I held out for another ten seconds before succumbing to the welcome darkness.

I awoke to the sound of a loud humming, I opened my eyes and quickly shut them when I was met with a pure bright light. I groaned and turned my head on the lumpy, uncomfortable pillow my head was on, opening my eyes a fraction and easing myself into the far-too-bright light. When my eyes were accustomed to it I blinked fully and groggily sat up, frowning at the annoying beeping machine next to me and the humming coming from the fluorescent lights above me. This could only be one place: hospital. I twisted around and got out of the bed, ignoring the searing pain in my left foot as I moved to the door. Suddenly I was yanked back by something, I cursed and narrowed my eyes at the IV pulling stubbornly at my right arm. I reached down to yank it out just as the door behind me opened, "Woah, honey! Don't pull that out just yet." The nurse scolded me, "What are you doing out of bed?" She frowned.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You're in Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, you were bought in with a severe head wound sustained from a heavy blow sustained at the side of your forehead, and you badly twisted your left ankle." The nurse explained.

"Oh right, yeah." I murmured, remembering the Rawhead we were hunting and my tumble on the basement stairs, "Where are my clothes?" I asked, frowning at the hospital gown that hung off me like a curtain.

"Well, our staff took them away for cleaning and have them stored away safely for your discharge." The nurse answered, she gently took my arm and I instinctively moved away and out of her hold, she held her hands up in alarm. "Woah, woah, it's ok! You just need to get back into bed." The nurse explained.

I frowned, "But I'm fine now. I just need to find my friends, then I'll be even better."

"No, no. Your doctor has ordered that you stay and rest until he deems you're better." The nurse shook her head.

I sighed, "Look," I read her name tag on her slacks, "Sally. I don't know you, and as you can probably tell from my accent, I'm not from here. So whatever you say to me, it won't comfort me. Now, let me go find my friends."

"I'm sorry miss, but I must ask you to get back into bed." Sally argued.

"Not until I find my friends." I shook my head and crossed my arms.

"Fine, if you're going to be stubborn." Sally frowned and tapped the pager on her belt.

I stared at Sally for a few seconds before fiddling with the IV strapped in my arm, I hummed to myself quietly as I worked my fingers under one side of the tape, preparing to rip it out at once. Just as I was about to free myself from the medical drips, two more nurses and a doctor burst into the room, I jumped and backed up to the wall, shooting daggers at the two females who were cornering me. "Miss, I must insist that you get back into bed, all this is unnecessarily damage to your health." The doctor sighed.

I shook my head, "I don't want to stay in bed, I need to find some people."

The doctor sighed and pulled out a syringe, "Keep her still." He told the two nurses on hand whilst he checked the needle.

"I'm not going to let you anywhere near me with that." I glared at the syringe in the doctor's hand.

"We don't need your arm for this, miss." The doctor chuckled and pushed it carefully into the clear bag hanging on a stand near the bed, he pushed it and I couldn't help but scoff: this guy was a moron – that wouldn't do anything to me. I noticed the tube hanging from the bag and followed it until it led straight into my arm.

Shit.

My eyelids drooped and I collapsed weakly into the two nurses awaiting arms, "That should be enough." The doctor muttered as my eyes closed and I fell into the dark once more.

_Sam's P.O.V_

I stifled a yawn as I waited for the middle-aged receptionist to stop tapping away on her computer, Dean and Stephanie had been taken away by hospital staff as soon as I arrived into the car park. "Sir, I'm so sorry to ask. There doesn't seem to be any insurance on either files." The receptionist jerked me from my thoughts and I stared at her for a moment.

"Right. Uh, ok." I knew Dean wouldn't have any insurance, and it stood to reason that Stephanie wouldn't either: she wasn't even from this reality, after all. I pulled out my wallet and picked out one of the colourful card inside it and handed it to the woman.

"Okay, Mr. Burkovitz." She said, glancing at the card. Once she gave it back to me I made my way over to the two officers stood by the wall, chatting amongst themselves.

"Look," The older cop glanced at me sympathetically, "We can finish this up later. I imagine you must be very concerned for your two friends right now."

"No, no, it's ok." I managed a half-convincing smile at them, "We were just taking a shortcut through the neighbourhood. And, um, the windows were rolled down, we heard some screaming when we were driving past so we stopped, ran in." I stumbled a little as I lied to the officers.

"And you found the kids in the basement?" The second cop asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Well, thank God you did." The first cop sighed in relief, clapping me on the shoulder, I smiled at them grimly and then spotted a doctor approaching.

"Excuse me." I said to the officers and they smiled.

"Sure. Thanks for your help. And all the best for your friends, we hope they pull through." The police officers smiled.

"Hey, Doc," I said as I caught up to the man, "My friends who got admitted a few hours ago, are they-."

"The guy's resting fine, although the girl had to be restrained and sedated upon waking, apparently she didn't take too well from her surroundings." The doctor answered.

"Right," I nodded slowly, making a mental note to check in on Steph in a bit, "And what about

the guy?"

The doctor sighed heavily, "The electrocution triggered a heart attack – pretty massive, I'm afraid. His heart... it's damaged."

My insides went cold, "How damaged?"

"We've done all we can. We can try and keep him comfortable at this point. But, I'd give him a couple weeks, at most, maybe a month." The doctor answered.

"No, no," I chuckled and shook my head in disbelief, "There's, there's... gotta be something you can do – some kind of treatment."

The doctor stopped walking and turned to me, "We can't work miracles. I really am sorry." He said in a sombre tone.

I entered Dean's room with a small smile in greeting, my brother looked a little paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes. He was propped up on pillows watching a small television set, "Have you ever actually watched daytime TV?" Dean asked me, keeping his eyes on the screen, his voice was very weak and strained, "It's terrible."

"I talked to your doctor." I sighed.

"That fabric softener teddy bear? Oh, I'm gonna hunt that little bitch down." Dean frowned.

"Dean." I sagged, he glanced up at me and sighed.

"All right," He turned off the TV resignedly, "Well, looks like you're gonna leave town without me."

I paused, absorbing what he'd just said, "What are you talking about? I'm not gonna leave you here." I frowned.

"Hey, you better take care of that car. Or, I swear, I'll haunt your ass." Dean's tone stayed serious, but a feeble smirked played on his features.

"I don't think that's funny." My frown deepened.

"Oh, come on, it's a little funny." Dean's smirk turned into a mischievous grin and I looked down at the floor as tears began welling up, Dean sighed loudly, "Look, Sammy, what can I say? Man, it's a dangerous gig. I drew the short straw. That's it – end of story."

"Don't talk like that, alright? We still have options." I argued.

"What options? Yeah, the burial or cremation. And I know it's not easy, but I'm gonna die. And neither you or Steph can stop it," Dean shrugged, "Speaking of, where is she?" He asked, changing the topic.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, "Uh, she suffered a severe head injury due to a heavy blow, I think it was when she fell down the stairs, and she twisted her ankle. The nurses and a doctor had to restrain and sedate her earlier when she woke up. Something about not being happy about where she was." I explained tiredly.

Dean chuckled, "That's my girl." He said affectionately. I stared at Dean for a moment before walking to the door.

"I'll see you later, I'm gonna go check on her." I told him, then shut the door. "Can't stop it?" I echoed my brother's words and scoffed, "Watch me."

A nurse directed me to Stephanie's room and I walked in to find her sleeping quietly, she looked so content when she was asleep, as if nothing haunted her at all. Although I had caught her looking deeply troubled and worried about something once or twice, I didn't want to ask her about it. It seemed too nosy to ask her about certain things, especially as she was faced with never seeing her dearest ones ever again, and having a prophecy of her ultimately destroying the world at such a young age must be terrifying on such a young person. I crept to the end of her bed and slipped out the chart from it's folder and glanced over it, no one knew her name and she didn't have any emergency contacts listed. To this world she was just an anonymous girl, a nobody. I glanced at her injuries and sighed, slipping the chart back and looked at her again. Her dark eyes cracked open a little and she frowned, "Sam?" She asked groggily.

"Hey Steph." I smiled at her.

She sat up slowly and pulled a face, "What happened?"

"Some hospital staff had to sedate you earlier, I came in to see how you're doing." I answered, sitting on the edge of her bed gingerly, "How do you feel?"

"Like shit." She laughed and stretched, "But I'm all good now, I think I'm ready to leave now."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, "Right now?"

"Yep," She nodded, "Right now, let's go." She went to get out of bed but I pushed her shoulder back down gently.

"Not just yet, Steph. Just stay here and rest a little more. You'd be no good to anyone if you made your injury worse." I told her.

"Please," She scoffed, "I've come back from far worse in shorter time. I think I can handle a 'severe head wound' and a 'badly twisted left ankle'."

"Steph..." I frowned and gave her a warning look.

The seventeen year old sighed, "Fine, I'll stay here for a bit." She rolled her eyes and I smiled.

"Good, you need it."

"Sure, whatever you say, Sammy," She sniggered, "Where's Dean? Surely he should be here showering me with attention."

I paused, "Steph... After I took you outside, I went back to find Dean had been electrocuted, it triggered a pretty bad heart attack... it's not looking good."

It was awful, watching the smile disappear from the girl's face, "How bad is it?" She asked in a monotonous tone.

"Uh," I ran a hand through my hair frustratedly, "Apparently he's looking at a month at most."

Stephanie closed her eyes and sighed heavily, "Shit." She murmured, "Is there nothing we can do?" She asked, opening her eyes. They were bright and shining with tears.

"Nothing the doctors can." I shook my head sadly, tears started to fall from the girl's eyes at that point.

"There must be something." She shook her head in disbelief.

"I know, and I'm gonna find it." I nodded, "All I want you to do is get better, and then I'll come pick you up when you get discharged, ok?" Steph bit her lip and nodded, "Hey," I pulled her into a gentle hug, "He's going to be fine." I assured her.

I had spent the past few days holed up a shabby motel room pouring over anything that could be used to help Dean, I wasn't going to let him die on me so easily. I rubbed my eyes from the vast amounts of reading I'd been doing and pulled out my mobile and pressed a few numbers into it and pressed dial. "Come on, pick up." I muttered as the phone kept ringing, it stopped and my heart fluttered with hope.

"This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 866-907-3235. He can help." The voicemail played and I almost threw the phone at the wall in frustration.

"Hey, Dad, it's Sam." I spoke into the speaker in a shaky voice, "Uh... you probably won't even get this, but, uh..." My eyes suddenly filled with hot tears, "It's Dean. He's sick, and uh... the doctors say there's nothing they can do. Um... but, uh, they don't know the things we know, right? So, don't worry, cause I'm uh..." I took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get him better. Alright... just wanted you to know." I hung up and tossed the phone on my bed and held my head in my hands, I looked up and blinked the tears away, then laughed: you'd think a father would drop everything to try and help his dying son, but...

There was a knock on the door and I looked up, my brother was leaning heavily with his arm around Stephanie's neck, he looked even worse than he did at the hospital. "What the hell are you two doing here?" I asked in surprise, but unable to keep the smile off my face: I was so happy to see them both – even if they looked like hell.

"I grabbed Steph and checked us out." Dean answered weakly.

"What? Are you crazy? People are gonna notice if you and Steph just up and vanish." I scolded, getting up and walking over.

"Well firstly, Stephanie didn't even have her name submitted: she was anonymous, and secondly I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot." Dean replied, he tried to move forward and dragged Stephanie with him, I saw the seventeen year old grimace when she moved so I took Dean from her.

"Thanks." She muttered, shutting the door as I helped my brother to a chair.

"You know, this whole 'I laugh in the face of death' thing? It's crap. I can see right through it." I told him.

"Yeah, whatever, dude." Dean shrugged.

"Are you ok, Sam?" Stephanie asked, "Have you even sept? You look worse than we do."

"Err, I've been scouring the internet for the last three days. Calling every contact in Dad's journal." I replied.

"For what?" Dean frowned.

"For a way to help you. One of Dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska – a specialist." I answered.

Dean sighed heavily, "You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?"

"Dean..." I trailed off and looked at Stephanie for help.

"We're not gonna let you die. So, I agree with your brother, we're going." She looked at Dean seriously.

It took us a three hour drive along some back roads until Sam finally drove up along a gravel path leading to a large white marquee tent that was set up in the middle of a field. Crowds of people were making their way towards the entrance of the tent, there shoes churning up the muddy ground. I noticed a fair few people on walking frames and wheelchairs, some people were even being supported by other. Once the car stopped Sam leapt out and ran over to Dean's side to help him, I opened my own door and leaned heavily against the roof of the car to help me out. Once I was out safely I glanced at the boys, Dean was still in his seat looking around. I noticed his eyes narrow at something and I turned and followed his gaze until I found what he was looking at. A large sign next to the entrance of the tent was decorated in bold, black lettering:

**The Church of Roy LeGrange. Faith Healer. Witness The Miracle.**

"'Witness the miracle'?" I echoed, glancing back at Sam and raising an eyebrow.

Dean sighed heavily and grimaced as he began to get out of the car, my heart lurched a little as I watched the pain in his eyes. Sam reached towards him, "I've got you."

"I got it." Dean snapped, shoving Sam away as he stood up, "Man, you are a lying bastard. I thought you said we were going to see a doctor."

"I believe I said a _specialist_. Look, Dean, this guy's meant to be the real deal." Sam reasoned.

Dean rolled his eyes, "I cannot believe you bought me here to see some guy who heals people out of a tent." He huffed.

As the words left his mouth an elderly woman passing by turned to him, "Reverend LeGrange is a great man." She announced imperiously.

I took Dean's arm in mine, "Yeah, that's nice." I replied, then led Dean away from her, I could feel her glaring daggers into my back as we limped away.

"I have a right to protest," A man was having a heated conversation with an officer a few feet a way from the tent, "This man is a fraud, and he's milking all these people out of their hard-earned money." He remonstrated angrily, pointing to Dean and I as we watched.

The officer sighed and shook his head, "Sir, this is a place of worship. Let's go," He pushed him away from the crowd, "Move it."

"I take it he's not part of the flock." Dean murmured.

"What? The idiots who are being milked of their hard-earned money? Nah." I smirked back at Dean as Sam caught up with us.

"But, guys, when people see something they can't explain, there's controversy." Sam piped up.

"Come _on, _Sam," Dean rolled his eyes contemptuously, "A faith healer?"

"Maybe it's time to have a little faith, guys." Sam shrugged.

"You know what I've got faith in?" Dean asked, "Reality. Knowing what's really going on."

"How can either of you be skeptics?" Sam frowned, "With the things we see everyday?"

"Yeah, that's the thing, Sam. We see them, we _know _they're real." I pointed out.

"But if you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there, too?" The younger Winchester challenged.

"Because I've seen what evil does to good people." Dean answered in a grim tone.

"Maybe God works in mysterious ways." A voice piped up behind us, we turned to come face to face with a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Maybe he does, but then again I'm fairly certain that Gods don't really care." I shrugged, remembering The Faceless Ones: the terrible dark Gods who I had encountered on multiple occasions.

"I'm sorry?" The girl choked out, her eyes widening to an impressive size.

"Gods, they don't care what we do. I can t-." Dean cut me off by putting his hand over my mouth.

"Ok that's enough," He said, smiling at the lady, "Sorry about her, she's just hard work." My eyes narrowed up at him and I saw his smile grow wider at my reaction.

"Yeah, I'm sure." The woman murmured, eyeing me carefully as she nodded to Dean.

Dean held out his other hand to the girl, "I'm Dean, this is Stephanie and that's my brother Sam." He greeted, nodding his head in indication to Sam and I.

"Layla," The girl shook Dean's hand in return, "So, if neither you or Stephanie are believers, then why are you here?" She asked as Dean let go of me.

"Well, apparently my brother here believes enough for the three of us." Dean smirked a little as he answered.

Layla frowned at the two of us and opened her mouth to reply, but an older woman approached and put her arm around Layla's shoulders, she had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as Layla did, "Come on, Layla. It's about to start." The woman said, shooting us a polite smile and leading Layla away.

Dean turned to me, "You're 'fairly certain that Gods don't care'? Tell me Steph, how in the hell would you know that?" He asked.

"Oh come _on_, guys," I rolled my eyes, "If I've been fighting monsters since I was eleven, don't you think I've come across Gods by now?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, "No." Sam shook his head.

I scoffed, "Well, the stories of how I fought and killed Gods are probably best for another day. Come on, I want to get a seat."

The marquee tent may have looked large outside, but inside it was less than spacious: rows of tattered wooden chairs were set out on every possible space before a small raised stage, on top of the stage was a lectern with candles stood proudly upon it. People were either coughing standing up or coughing in chairs, someone brushed passed me and I flinched out of their way. "Yeah, peace, love and trust all over." Dean murmured from beside me, I turned to see him tilting his head in the direction of a security camera which was in the far corner. I edged a smile at the older Winchester's comment and followed him as he went to sit down, but Sam put an arm around his brother and led him down the aisle towards the front, I frowned and limped after them with slow, dreaded steps.

"Come on, let's sit over here." Sam was saying to his brother.

Dean looked at Sam in horror, "Don't! What are you doing? Let's just get Steph and sit over there."

"We're sitting up front." Sam shook his head firmly.

"But Sam," I groaned, "Why do we have to sit at the front?"

"Hurry up." Sam dodged my question, not even pausing to look back at me.

"Oh, come _on, _Sam!" Dean snapped harshly at his brother.

The three of us stopped in the aisle, I leant against one of the chairs to take the weight off my foot, "You alright?" Sam asked, I opened my mouth to reply, and then rolled my eyes when I saw he wasn't even addressing me.

"This is ridiculous!" Dean growled, shaking out of his brother's grip and batting his arm away, "Get _off _me, dude, I'm good."

Sam pointed to three empty chairs three rows from the front, Layla and her friend – presumably her mother. "Perfect." Sam smiled at us.

I huffed and pushed off of the chair, "Yeah, friggin' perfect. Sat behind the pretty blonde." I rolled my eyes as I limped away.

"Nice going, Sam." I heard Dean say to his brother as I reached the aisle, I sat on the furthest chair in and crossed my arms in a sulk.

The brothers moved towards my aisle, Dean went to sit ext to me but Sam brushed passed him and got in first, "You take the aisle." Sam said as he slid in next to me.

Dean went to complain, but he shushed by the surrounding crowd as everyone directed their attention to the main stage, where a middle-aged woman was helping an equally aged man with dark shades on up to the lectern. The lights on the marquee seemed to the dim and the audience fell into a hushed, baited silence as the man cleared his throat, "Each morning, my wife: Sue-Ann, reads me the news. Never seems good, does it?"

Sam, Dean and I looked around uncomfortably as the entire audience chorused is a murmur of agreement.

"Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act," The man continued, I glanced behind the man and noticed a table filled with various religious items, "But," I snapped back to the man, "I say to you folks: God is watching."

"Yes he is." An elderly lady behind us whispered as she clung on to a silver cross around her neck.

"God rewards the good, and He punishes the corrupt. It is the Lord who does the healing here friends, the Lord who guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people's hearts." The man paused as the crowd murmured in excitement again.

Dean leaned over to us, "Yeah, and into their wallets." He whispered, Sam shook his head at Dean and I smirked a little.

The man tilted his head, "You think so, young man?"

The crowd fell silent and turned to the three of us, "Sorry." Dean bit his lip.

"No, no. Don't be. Just watch what you say around a blind man – we've got real sharp ears." The man smiled good-naturedly, but I found it a little unnerving that he hears us, around us the crowd laughed appreciatively, "What's your name, son?" The speaker asked Dean when the crowd died down.

The older Winchester cleared his throat, "Dean." He said hesitantly.

"Dean," The man nodded to himself, "I want – I want you to come up here with me."

The crowd clapped apart from the three of us – and, strangely, Layla and her friend in front of us. Sue-Ann moved to the centre stage and held her hand out to Dean with a warm smile on her face, but Dean shook his head, "No, it's ok."

Beside me, Sam frowned and looked at his brother, "What are you doing?!" He asked in a hushed tone.

"You've come to be healed, haven't ya?" The man called, a frown creasing his face around his dark shades.

Dean hesitated again, "Well, yeah, but..." He paused again as the audience chorused with encouraging noises and claps, "... Maybe you should just pick someone else." He suggested.

"Oh, no," The speaker shook his head, "I didn't pick you, Dean, the Lord did."

"Come on!" A voice from the crowd sounded.

"Get up there." Sam smiled encouragingly to his older brother, I raised an eyebrow as Dean reluctantly stood and moved towards the stage.

"Will this really help him?" I asked Sam.

The younger brother shrugged, "It's the best we've found so far."

We both turned our attention back to the main stage, where Dean was stood next to the healer awkwardly, "Look, no disrespect, but... ahh, I'm not a believer." I heard him say as the crowd fell silent.

The man smiled at Dean, "You will be, son. You will be," Then he turned to the crowd and raised his arms, "Pray with me, friends."

Everyone raised their arms and joined their hands, a man to my right tried to grasp mine but I snatched it away and glared at him, then turned back to the main stage. Roy placed one of his hands on Dean's shoulder and the other on the side of his head, I stiffened when Dean fell to his knees and glanced up at Sam, but he sat frozen with his eyes on the stage. When Dean suddenly slumped to the floor Sam and I jumped up and ran to the stage, "Dean!" We called, the crowd clapped excitedly as we jumped up onto the stage, I ignored the pain in my ankle as I crouched next to Dean's limp form.

"Dean? Dean, can you hear me?" I begged as I stroked his cheek, his eyes burst open and he gasped for breath, making me jump back in shock.

"Say something!" Sam looked at his brother with wide eyes, but Dean's attention was focused on something behind us.

Even though Dean said that he was fine, Sam insisted that he drive us to the hospital for Dean to be checked up. I made sure to avoid as many nurses as possible as we waited for Dean's tests to come back. "So, you really feel ok?" Sam asked his brother for the umpteenth time.

Dean had a troubled look about him since seeing the healer, but he made a good show of rolling his eyes at his brother, "I feel fine, Sam." He sighed heavily.

We looked up as a doctor entered holding a wad of paper, "Well, according to all your tests there's nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was – not that a man your age should be having heart trouble. But," The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "It's strange it does happen."

I tilted my head and frowned, "What do you mean, strange?" I asked.

"Well, just yesterday, a young guy like you; twenty-seven, athletic. Out of nowhere, heart attack." The doctor explained.

Dean was silent for a moment before he nodded slowly, "Thanks, Doc."

The doctor shrugged as he opened the door to leave, "No problem."

After the door shut Dean broke into a little smile with a slight frown, "That's odd." He announced.

"Maybe it's a coincidence," I shrugged, "I mean, people's hearts give out all the time. It's uncommon for someone so young to suffer from it, but it's not unusual."

Dean made a face and rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know. Stuff like that just doesn't happen without it having an unnatural cause."

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look, Dean," He sighed exasperatedly, "Do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't you just be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?" He asked and I nodded.

"Because I can't shake this feeling, that's why." Dean snapped.

"What feeling?" I asked as Sam and I frowned at him.

"When I was healed, I just..." He paused, "I felt wrong. I felt cold... and for a second... I saw someone."

"Who?" I pressed.

"This, uh, this old man – and I'm telling you, guys, it was a spirit." Dean sighed when he finished.

"But if there was something there, Dean, I think I would've seen it, too. And Steph would've done her, uh, air-reading thing. I mean, I've been seeing an awful lot of things lately." Sam objected.

"Well, excuse me, the psychic wonder and the sorcerer," Dean raised his eyebrows at us, "But you're just gonna need a little faith on this one. I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this."

To my surprise, Sam nodded beside me, "Yeah, alright," He said, sighing in defeat, "What do you wanna do?" He asked.

"I want you to check out the heart attack guy, me and Steph'll visit the reverend." Dean answered.

Dean and I were sat awkwardly on one of Roy's sofas whilst he sat opposite us in an armchair. His wife stood and filled our glasses with water whilst she eyed us curiously, "I feel great. Just trying to, you know, make sense of what happened." Dean grinned at the reverend.

"A miracle is what happened," Sue-Ann said softly, "And well, miracles come so often around Roy."

"When did they start? The miracles." I asked politely.

Roy shrugged cheerfully, "Woke up one morning, stone blind. The doctors figured out I had cancer and told me I had maybe a month. So, uh, we prayed for a miracle. I was weak, but I told my lovely wife to just keep on praying. Then I went into a coma, the doctors said I wouldn't wake up – but I did, and the cancer was gone," The man leaned forward in his chair and took off his sunglasses, revealing his plain white eyes, I tried to keep the look of horror off my face as he leaned closer to us, "If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would believe I'd ever had it." He whispered to us, if his eyes could see I imagine there would've been a childlike gleam in them.

"And suddenly you could heal people." Dean finished the story.

Roy sat back in his chair, "I discovered it afterwards, yes. God's blessed me in many ways."

"And his flock just swelled overnight – and this is just the beginning." Sue-Ann added, the excited gleam was definitely noticeable in _her _eyes.

"Can I ask you one last question?" Dean asked.

"Of course you can." Roy smiled warmly.

Dean glanced at me before speaking, "Why? Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me?" He breathed.

My eyes widened, "Dean!" I protested.

"No, no, it's alright," The reverend put his hands out, "Like I said before – the Lord guides me. I looked into your heart, and you just stood out from all the rest."

"What did you see in my heart?" Dean inquired, avoiding my blazing look.

"Apart from all the great affection you have for this lovely young lady?" The reverend smiled and I couldn't help but break out into a small grin, "A young man with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn't finished." The reverend's tone turned serious and I caught Dean's surprised gaze.

When we were leaving Dean had his arm wrapped around my waist and my head was resting against him contentedly, to our surprise we met with Layla and her mother. "Dean, Stephanie, hey." Layla greeted with a friendly smile, although she wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Hey." Dean smiled back.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I feel good. Cured, I guess." Dean nodded.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Ah you know, my Mum, she wanted to talk to the reverend." Layla gestured to her Mum. The house door opened and we turned to Sue-Ann coming out onto the porch.

"Layla." Sue-Ann looked at the young blonde in shock.

"Yes, I'm here again." Layla nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry, but Roy is resting. He won't be seeing anyone else right now." Sue-Ann shrugged with a thin smile on her face.

Layla's mother stepped forward, "Sue-Ann, please. This is our sixth time, he's got to see us." She said with a pleading look in her tired eyes.

"Roy is well aware of Layla's situation. And he very much wants to help just as son as the Lord allows. Have Faith, Mrs. Rourke." Sue-Ann said in a stiff tone, then she turned and went inside without waiting for a reply. Layla's mother stood there with her gaze transfixed on the door, then she turned and glared at Dean and I.

"What are you two still doing here?" She snapped, "You both got what you wanted."

"Mum, stop." Layla frowned at her mother.

"No, Layla, this is too much. We've been to _every _single service. And Roy keeps choosing these strangers over you – strangers who don't even _believe,_" She spat, Layla flinched but I found myself opening my mouth to bite out a retort, but then Layla's mother began sobbing, "I just can't pray any harder." She cried.

"Layla, what's wrong?" Dean asked.

Layla hesitated, "I have this thing." She shrugged.

"It's a brain tumour," Her mother sniffed, "And it's inoperable. In six months, the doctor's say..." She trailed off and Layla put a hand on her shoulders.

I didn't feel angry at them anymore.

"I'm sorry." I said, giving Layla and her mother a sympathetic look.

"It's ok." The girl shrugged in response.

"No it isn't," Her mother argued, shaking her head aggressively as she turned to us, "Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?" She looked at Dean, my right hand twitched a little – I was going to hit her. Layla's mother suddenly turned and stalked away, Layla herself took a deep, shaking breath before following.

"Come on," Dean said quietly, pulling me in closer to him, "Let's go."

Dean and I entered the motel room to find Sam, incessantly typing away at his laptop with a mass of papers piled next to him, the coffee on his other side was untouched. "What did you find out?" Dean asked as he shrugged off his well-worn leather jacket.

"I'm sorry." Sam muttered quietly.

"Sorry about what?" I frowned as I approached Sam and took the chair next to him whilst Dean sat on the nearest bed.

Sam pushed the laptop away and rubbed his eyes, "Marshall Hall died at 4.17." He explained.

Dean and I stared at the younger Winchester in shock, "The exact time I was healed." Dean whispered.

"Yeah. So I put together a list of everyone Roy's healed - six people over the past year. Then I cross-checked them with the local obits. Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victims died of the same symptom LeGrange was healing at the time." Sam nodded, his voice meek.

"So what? Someone's healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?" I sighed: nothing was ever easy.

"Somehow. LeGrange... he's trading a life for another." Sam nodded stonily.

"Wait, wait, wait, just hold on," Dean held up a hand and we looked at him expectantly, "So, Marshall Hall died to save me?" He said, trying to get his head around it. I could see it then, the guilt dampening the light in his eyes as he realised just what the cost had been to save him.

Sam saw it too, "Dean, the guy probably would've died anyway – and someone else would've been healed." He shared the same guilty look on his face his brother did.

"Guys come on, none of us knew that would happen – we were just trying to save you, Dean." I tried to console the brothers.

Dean shook his head in disbelief, "You never should've bought me here."

"Dean, I was just trying to save your life." Sam protested, sounding even more upset than he did earlier.

"But, Sam, some guy is dead now because of me." Dean said coldly.

"I didn't know." Sam whispered, "I didn't know."

"The thing I don't understand is how is Roy doing it? How is he trading a life for a life?" I asked, trying to figure it all out – I didn't even know you could switch someone's life force with someone else's.

"Oh, he's not doing it." Dean scoffed incredulously, "Something else is doing it for him."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"The old man I saw on stage." Dean answered.

"The one nobody else could see?" I asked.

"I didn't wanna believe it, but deep down I knew." Dean continued.

"Knew what? What are you talking about?" Sam frowned at his brother.

"There's only one thing that can give and take life like that." The older Winchester pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, "We're dealing with a reaper."

"You really think it's _the _Grim Reaper? Like; angel of death, collect your soul – the whole deal?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head, "No, no, no, not _the _reaper. A reaper. There's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by one-hundred different names, it's possible there's more than one of them."

"The Dullahan." I muttered.

"The what?" Sam frowned at me.

I ran a hand through my long, dark hair, "The Dullahan, they're these headless horseman guys who, er, collect people for their death when they hear the cry of a banshee. Basically when you hear the cry, the Dullahan drive this coach called the Coach-A-Bowers. No matter how hard you fight them, they put you in the carriage and take you off to die." I explained.

"Sounds like you know them personally." Dean said in a joking tone, but his smile died down when he saw how serious I was, "Wait... you do?" He asked.

I nodded, "Uh-huh."

The boys exchanged a glance, "Wha- How? How do you know them, Steph. Pretty sure a seventeen year old shouldn't even be considered for the chop." Sam exclaimed.

I shrugged, "Story for another time, guys." I forced a smile on my face.

"Steph, you can't just drop something like that and then expect us to-."

"Dean," Sam cut his brother off in a warning tone, "If Steph wants to stop talking about it, then we'll stop. We'll talk about this later, ok? Right now we need to get back to the matter at hand."

I kept my eyes on a spot on the ratty carpet and refused to look up at Dean, I could feel his gaze boring into me and I couldn't bring myself to meet it. After a long moment he sighed heavily, "Ok... Sam, you said it yourself that the clock stopped when I was healed, right? Reapers stop time, and you can only see them when they're coming at you which is why I could see it and you couldn't." He explained, I breathed a little more evenly when I felt his lingering gaze move from me.

"Yeah, maybe." Sam muttered, I could hear the doubt seeping into his tone.

Dean heard it too, "There's nothing else it could be, Sam."

I finally looked up from the floor and at the boys, "The question is how is Roy controlling the damn thing?"

"That cross." Sam said quietly.

Dean and I frowned at him, "What?" The elder Winchester asked.

"There was this cross, I noticed it in the church and I knew I had seen it before," Sam started going through the papers next to his closed computer, when he found what he was looking for he held it out to his brother, "Here."

Dean frowned at the paper and I got up from next to Sam and sat next to Dean on the bed to see the picture, "A Tarot?" Dean asked sceptically.

"It makes sense. A Tarot dates back to the early Christian era, right? When some priests were still using magic? A few of them veered into the dark stuff – Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it?" Sam asked, I twisted the icy black ring on my finger self-consciously.

"So Roy's using dark Necromancy magic to what? Bind the reaper?" I asked, looking up at Sam.

Sam leaned back on his chair and pulled a face, "If he is he's riding a whirlwind. It's like putting a dog's leash on a great white."

"Ok, then we stop Roy." Dean shrugged.

I nodded in agreement, whilst Sam frowned, "How?"

Dean looked adamant, "You know how. Both of you."

"Wait, you guys aren't serious?" Sam frowned at Dean and I in turn, "We can't kill Roy."

"Why not?" I tilted my head, "Sam, the guy's playing God, he's deciding who gets to live and who gets to die. I'm pretty sure that's a monster in our books." I reasoned.

"No," Sam shook his head firmly, "We're not going to kill a human being, guys. If we do that we're no better than he is."

I opened my mouth to protest but Dean put a hand on my shoulder, "Ok, we can't kill Roy, we can't kill death. Any bright ideas, college boy?" He challenged.

"Ok, uh... If Roy's using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we gotta... figure out what it is. And how to break it." Sam stuttered

"Mmm." I murmured in agreement, but really I was trying to figure out how Roy had gotten his hands on necromancy magic – and if it could be a clue to helping me get back home.

I sighed happily when the car pulled up on the field a little way away from all the other cars in front of the great white marquee tent that facilitated Roy's miraculous service. We all got out the car and joined in with the crowd that were swarming the entrance to the tent, "If Roy's using a spell, there might be a spell book." Sam said, interrupting the silence.

"Well, see if you and Steph can find it," Dean nodded, looking at his watch, "Hurry up too, the service starts in fifteen minutes. I'll try to stall Roy."

I nodded, "Ok, sounds like a plan. We'll be taking the car then." I smirked when I saw Dean's jaw clench a little.

"Excuse me," The three of us turned to a man holding out a leaflet to us, "Roy LeGrange is a fraud. He's no healer."

"Amen, brother." Dean nodded and took the leaflet.

"You keep up the good work." Sam added.

The man looked surprised—it seemed not many people wanted to listen to something other than the words of a miracle-worker, "Thank you." He said.

"No problem, take care." I smiled at him, then turned to Dean and held my hand out to him.

He raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You know what, keys." I looked at him expectantly.

Dean nodded, "Oh right." His hand went into his pocket and bought out the keys to his beloved car, it was all I could do to keep my hands from shaking in excitement – I couldn't _wait _to drive the car. He went to drop them in my awaiting palm and then threw them at Sam, I made a noise of objection as Sam caught them and smiled. "What?" Dean asked.

"What about me? I want to drive the car!" I pretended to whine.

Dean chuckled, "Let you behind the wheel of my baby? You're kidding me." I couldn't believe it, he was actually _chuckling_.

I glared at him and took a grinning Sam's arm and stormed away, separating from Dean and heading back to the car, "I cannot believe he just did that." I growled when he was out of earshot.

Sam shrugged, "Guess he trusts me more." I frowned at him when I heard the amusement in his tone.

I huffed as I got into the passenger seat and crossed my arms as Sam got in beside me, "This is _so _unfair." I moaned as Sam started the car.

Sam and I were crouched around the corner of Roy's house, waiting for the healer to leave. After a few minutes we heard the door open and watched as Sue-Ann helped her husband down the steps of the porch and leave for the service. Once were sure they'd left I crept up to the window, shadows formed around my hand as I prepared to break through the window, my arm went back and just before I released it Sam grabbed it and shook his head. I frowned and let the shadows evaporate as I put my arm down by my side, I followed Sam around the front of the house and found him trying to pick-lock the front door. He got in and I sighed as we entered the hallway, "What's wrong, Steph?" He asked as I followed him into the living room.

"I just think smashing the window would've been much cooler than just hunkering down and picking the lock and entering. Kinda seems... mundane after all the work we do fighting monsters every other day." I shrugged as Sam walked over to the large bookcase that dominated the left side of the room.

"Well, it was pick the door or get done for damaging the reverend's house." Sam murmured in response as he stared at the bookcase, I walked across the room and joined him.

"What are you looking for?" I asked as I stood next to him.

"A book that indicates anything towards necromancy." He answered.

I searched the bookcase and frowned at the third shelf, the entire bookcase was lathered in a thick blanket of dust, but something was off about the third shelf, I nudged Sam and pointed to the shelf, "Look."

Sam turned his attention to the third shelf and stared at the rows of books, he frowned and moved his hand towards a book with the title _Encyclopedia of British History _on it. I looked at the dust and saw that it didn't have any in front of it – indicating this book had been moved across the bookcase. Sam flipped through the book and grunted when it revealed nothing, I looked up at the case and rolled my eyes as I saw another book behind it, I reached my hand in and pulled it out. It was smaller than the encyclopedia, and it was bound in a rough black leather and looked like it had been read more than a few times. I opened it and the first page was a handrawn illustration of a skeletal figure labelled _reaper. _In the next page was a wooden cross with intricate symbols carved around it. Sam tapped the page, "That was the same cross on display at the service on the stage Roy was on."

"Huh." I muttered, turning the next page to find several newspaper cut outs of articles about the people who have died recently, the first was a picture of Marshall Hall, who according to the article was an openly gay teacher. The second was a picture of a young woman who died of a brain tumour just yesterday, apparently she was an abortion rights advocate. The final clipping was a smaller clipping of the man who was handing out leaflets against Roy earlier today outside the tent, "I bet this guy's gonna be the next victim." I said, handing it to Sam.

"Right, let's go." Sam nodded, pocketing the article and we hurried out the room.

Sam was speeding back to the service whilst I held his phone to my ear, waiting for the dial tone to stop ringing, "Come on, Dean. Pick up." I muttered.

Finally, the ringing stopped, "What have you got?" Dean's voice sounded through the earpiece.

"Roy's choosing victims he sees as immoral. And I think I know who's next on his list. Remember that protester with the leaflets?" I asked.

"What the guy in the parking lot?" Dean replied.

"Yeah, Sam and I will find him. But you can't let Roy heal anyone." I warned.

"'Kay, I'll see you both later." Dean answered and I hung up the phone.

Sam and I were busy searching around the car park looking for the protester, but it was getting dark and Sam didn't have his torch handy and I couldn't summon a flame in such a public place. "Help!" A terrified cry made us jump and swivel towards the noise.

"Where'd it come from?" I looked up at Sam.

He shrugged hopelessly, "I don't know."

"We better find it quickly, before Roy finishes the process." I muttered, casting a wary glance up at the rapidly darkening sky. Inside the tent, you could hear people clapping and cheering, I glanced at Sam in alarm, "Why isn't Dean stopping it?" I hissed.

"I don't know!" Sam snapped, running a hand through his shaggy locks.

"Help! Help me, please!" The voice called again, the protester came into view, belting towards us and glancing behind him.

"Where is he?" Sam asked, grabbing the man's shoulder as he looked around wildly.

He raised a shaking arm, "Right there!" He pointed behind us and I frowned, seeing empty space in front of me.

"Fine, come on." Sam pulled at the protester's arm and dragged him away, "Steph, try and hold him off!" He called.

"How?" I frowned, staring at the space where the protester had pointed to.

"I don't know, think of something!" He shouted back.

I sighed and splayed my hands, reading the air for any signs that something was out there. Something shifted beside me and I flinched away, feeling my ring burn icy cold around my finger – the reaper was definitely close by. With my left hand still raised, I readied the shadows with my right and lashed at where the reaper supposedly was. If I hit it nothing happened. I cursed and ran back, giving myself a little more room to manoeuvre as I dodged past parked cars, my hand still raised and desperately reading the air for something, anything. Suddenly I felt movements to my right and I jerked my position away from it, looking for what was causing the unexpected disturbance. Sam's phone rang in my pocket and I answered it quickly, "I did it," Dean was saying in an excited tone, "I stopped Roy."

I muttered a curse as I saw crowds of people exiting the tent, obviously ruining any chances of finding the lone reaper, "Yeah, I see that. I'll go find Sam." I hung up and sprinted down the car park, looking for Sam and the protester.

"Steph!" I ran over to Sam where he was stood with the protester.

"Dean called, he stopped the service." I told him, handing Sam the phone. Sam nodded in thanks and I turned to the man, "It's ok, our friend stopped Roy." I smiled.

His reaction was not the one I was expecting, instead the protester screamed and pointed behind me, "No!" He cried in horror.

Sam looked at me in alarm, "It didn't work, it's still coming!" He said.

"Nothing I used against the reaper works! Phone Dean, I'll go find him." I told him, before he could reply I ran towards the tent, past the bustling crowd and bursting inside. Dean was standing with Sue-Ann on the stage, he was holding her shoulders and she was clutching onto a cross, I ducked down and hid behind some of the wooden benches in the seating area whilst I heard Sue-Ann struggling against Dean.

"Help! Help me!" She suddenly cried, at first I thought she was calling to me but I ducked back down when I heard the sound of footsteps rushing past, I looked up and watched as two officers grabbed Dean and haul him down the aisle, I stayed hidden as they past by. When Sue-Ann followed I jumped up and crept to the entrance of the tent, making sure to stay hidden from their view, "I just don't understand," I heard Sue-Ann sniff loudly, "After everything we've done for you. After Roy healed you. I'm just very, very disappointed, Dean." She gushed, it probably sounded very believable to the officers, but it just settled one thing for me: I was going to kill this bitch. "You can let him go, I'm not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with him as he sees fit." I frowned at the last bit: surely even the officers would've heard the threat in Sue-Ann's words.

"We catch you round here again, son, we'll put the fear of God in you, understand." One of the officers said sternly to Dean.

"Yes sir, fear of God. Got it." Dean replied almost lazily, I heard the officers grunt and walk away, I slowly stood up and walked towards the exit, but there was someone else waiting for Dean. "Layla?" I made a quick decision and ducked next to the doorway and held my breath.

"Why would you do that, Dean?" I heard Layla sniff, "And it could have been my only chance."

"He's not a healer." Dean argued in a soft voice.

"He healed you." Layla snapped, surprising me with her sudden anger. I felt my heart actually twinge a little at the thought of losing Dean forever – I was thankful that Roy healed Dean, and I know how it was done was wrong... but I didn't know what I would do if Dean was suddenly taken from me. I'd miss the secret and playful smiles he sent me throughout the day, and the way whenever we were on a job he'd always insist he went through a doorway first in case something could jump out and kill me.

"I know it doesn't seem fair," Dean suddenly jolted me from my thoughts, "And I wish I could explain, but Roy is not the answer. I'm sorry."

I heard Layla take a deep, shuddering breath, "Goodbye, Dean." Her voice sounded drained, the alarming aggression that laced her tone earlier had vanished. Even though I couldn't see, she must have turned to leave and then changed her mind, because he voice sounded again, "I wish you luck. I really do." She said quietly.

"Same to you." Dean replied, his voice cracking a little, "You deserve it a lot more than me."

I decided to make my presence known, "Dean!" I called, running over and jumping into his arms, he seemed a little stiff but soon spun me around and met his lips with mine. I smiled when he beamed down at me, his green eyes brightening, my feet landed on the floor and my smile widened when I spotted Sam waiting for us. Dean took his hand in mine and we walked over to him, we passed Roy, Sue-Ann and Layla's mother on the way over, they were in the shadows with their heads bowed, talking in hushed tones amongst themselves.

"Private session tonight, no interruptions. I give you my word, I'll heal you daughter." The old man said to Mrs. Rourke, taking her shaking hand in his.

"Thank you, reverend," She breathed, "God bless you."

Dean and I kept walking, meeting Sam in silence and walking back to the car quickly, "We need to do something." Sam muttered.

I nodded grimly, whilst Dean had fallen into an uncharacteristic silence.

"So Roy really believes." Sam said, we were back in the motel room mulling over what had occurred.

"I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing." Dean nodded.

"Well, Steph and I found this," Sam handed the book we found in the LeGrange's bookcase, "It was hidden in their living room. It's ancient, written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper." He explained.

"Must be one hell of a spell." Dean commented.

"Yeah. It says you have to build a black alter with seriously dark stuff; bones, human blood... To cross a line like that – and a preachers' wife too..." I trailed off, running a hand through my long dark locks.

"Desperate," Dean nodded, "Her husband was dying, she didn't have anything to save him. She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy."

"Cheating death, literally." Sam nodded.

"But guys, Roy's alive – so why is she still using the spell?" I frowned.

"She's still using the spell to force the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral." Sam answered.

Dean scoffed, "May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work."

"We _have _to break that binding spell." I said, giving them a pointed look, "Where I'm from, necromancy was very dangerous, mainly because it was easy to access and very powerful. If it's the same over here, then more and more people are gonna get hurt. Power like that... it's intoxicating." I admitted, remembering a conversation I had with Skulduggery about Darquesse once.

Dean showed us what he was looking at in the book, "Sue-Ann had a Coptic cross like this. I found her in the church chanting with it, and when she dropped it, the reaper backed off." He explained.

"So do we have to find the cross or destroy the alter?" Sam asked.

"Maybe both. Whatever we do we better do it soon, or he's healing Layla tonight." Dean shrugged.

Dean slowly rolled the car carefully up the field before the large church marquee, the tent was already lit and there was a fairly large group of cars parked outside the tent. The car stopped and we sat there in silence for a moment, then Sam leant forward in his seat, "That's Layla's car." He said, pointing to the car on the far right.

"That means she's already here. We don't have much time." I commented.

"Yeah." Dean nodded sadly.

Sam exhaled and turned to his brother, "Dean..."

"You know if Roy picked Layla instead of me she'd be here right now, and if she's not healed tonight she's gonna die in a couple of months." Dean stated, cutting Sam off.

I leant forward in my seat and put my hand on his arm, "What's happening to her is horrible. But come on, what are you going to do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself Dean, you can't play God." I told him.

Dean didn't reply and got out the car, I caught Sam's eyes in the rear-view mirror and then followed Dean out the car, the three of us approached the tent quietly and peered inside. Roy was at the foot of the main stage speaking with a small group of the faithful, Layla and her mother were among them. "Sue-Ann isn't there." Dean murmured.

"Let's check out the house." Sam suggested, we backed away from the tent and back to the car.

The three of us were crouching behind the bushes that bordered the driveway that led up to Roy's house when Dean turned to us, "Go find Sue-Ann, Steph and I'll catch up."

Sam frowned, "What are you gonna do?" He asked.

"We're gonna go for a little jog." He smirked, a mischievous glint reflected in his eyes as he nodded to the two officers who handled Dean earlier, Sue-Ann must have requested them to stand guard in case someone tried to disrupt her ritual again. He dragged me away from Sam and out onto the middle of the driveway, "Hey!" He called to the officers.

The men looked at us.

"You gonna put that fear of God in me and my friend or what?" Dean taunted, grabbing my hand and pulling me away and sprinting back down the driveway. After a few seconds I found my legs and let go of his hand as we raced out onto the road and back towards the church service tent.

I was giddy with the last dregs of adrenaline from the run as Dean and I were crouched behind a caravan in the car park before the church tent, the officers were on the other side but I had one hand up reading the air in case the officers moved too close to us. We stayed completely still as they shone a torch beam around the caravan. "You seem either of 'em?" One of the officers said to his colleague.

"Nah." The other man shook his head in defeat.

Dean's hand found mine and he slowly pulled me up with him as he slowly rose up from behind the caravan. A dog inside the vehicle suddenly sprung to the back window and started barking at us, we jumped back a little and landed back on the cold ground, I struggled underneath Dean and he clamped a hand over my mouth and put a finger to his lips, behind us the dog inside the vehicle was working itself up into a frenzy, and the officers were shining their torch beam over the car. The white beam suddenly moved down as one of them men shone it underneath the car. This was it. I was sure we were going to get caught. But instead the officer merely sighed and got back up, he shined the torch into the car at the dog and scoffed, "Psycho mutt." He muttered.

The officers moved away, Dean and I lay on the cold floor for a minute longer before I pushed him off, I leant on the roof of the car next to the caravan, ignoring the dog as I sagged and put my forehead on the roof. "Never again." I managed, mumbling the word into the cold metal.

"Agreed. Come on, let's go see if they've started the ceremony." Dean nodded. I pushed myself off the car and we walked back through the car park towards the large whit church marquee. As we neared the tent the lights that had been put down to guide cars safely flickered and cut out, Dean stopped and looked around.

"Dean?" I asked, frowning as his gaze fixed on something in the distance, "Dean what is it?"

"Steph," Dean whispered, "Please tell me you see that." He pointed down the driveway.

I squinted and shook my head, "No. What are you talking about?"

"Reaper." He breathed, fear pooling into his eyes.

My insides turned cold, I grabbed his arm and sprinted towards the tent, half-pulling him, half-dragging him. When we reached the entrance I led him to a small clearing, "It's ok, it's ok. It's gonna be fine." I murmured, mostly to myself. "Ok, stay here. I'm gonna go stop it."

"You can't, Steph. It's coming to kill, not injure." Dean said hopelessly.

"Just shut up for once, ok? I'm going in that tent, and I am going to save you." I bit out. Without waiting for a reply I took off and ran into the church, Roy was stood next to a kneeling Layla, a group of the faith were stood up with their hands clasped. I spied a figure stood behind the back makeshift door of the tent and ran across the stage to it, ignoring people's protests and gasps. I reached the door and flung it open, Sue-Ann was stood their chanting and clasping the cross in front of a table filled with religious items, there was even an old withered goblet filled with a suspicious red liquid. I wasted no time when I reached the woman, batting the cross out of her hands and kicking it across the floor. Sue-Ann cried out in surprise and glared daggers at me, surprising me with an offensive attack rather than running away. Her hand flashed and the back of it cracked against my cheek with such a force I staggered in surprise, I rubbed my burning cheek and turned back and gave the woman a cruel smile, I'd been waiting for this. Sue-Ann's eyes widened and the realisation came rushing into them: I was better than her, and she knew it. I rushed her, pushing her back and firing three quick jabs in succession, aiming at her gut twice and the third landing on her throat. She gagged and doubled over, I forced her back against the table and swept the contents off of it, glass smashed and trinkets snapped, the goblet spilled and dark crimson stained the floor.

Sue-Ann fell to her knees and looked down at the mess in despair, "What have you done?" She breathed.

I rolled my eyes and held my hand out, the cross flew in my grip and I studied it, "Oh no, what have _you _done, Sue-Ann?"

"I don't understand. How did you- Who are you?" She asked in a small, frightened voice.

"Me? I'm nobody, really. Just someone who tries to make the world a better place. What I don't understand is how you came by this." I held up the necklace for her to see.

Sue-Ann paled, "I found it online." She stuttered.

"Liar." I narrowed my eyes, "I'm fairly sure you didn't just pick this up from your local shop, because if I were to do this-," I dropped the necklace on the ground and crunched it with the heel of my boot, the pendant broke and black smoke was released, curling wildly in the air, "See, not I know what that cross was, and I know you know. I'm just innocently curious to how you came by it, that's all."

Sue-Ann regarded me with fearful eyes, "I-I... you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

I knelt down next to her, "I'm fairly certain I would. Now tell me."

The woman took a deep breath, "The cross didn't come from here, I got it from... elsewhere." She explained.

"Yeah, I got that part. I'm just wondering _how _you did it."

"There was a man, he said he was a travel agent of some sorts. When he heard about what I was trying to do he visited me and said he could get me there to get it." Sue-Ann answered.

"Who was he, did he give a name?" I asked, the anger being replaced by desperation.

"He didn't me it. He just sort of... did it. You wouldn't believe the world I visited – exactly like this one, but there was a – a world within it." Sue-Ann breathed, her eyes shining. I stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue, "You wouldn't believe what was in this world," She leaned in close to me, as if she had a secret to share, "There are people, some who look exactly like us, some who look completely strange, people who can do magic."

Something caught in my throat, "I know." I choked out. Sue-Ann frowned, and I blinked back the sudden tears forming in my eyes. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame into my palm, the woman watched it in disbelief.

"You're one of them." She gasped.

"Yep. See why I need to know who put you there?"

"I see. I can tell you one thing about him." Sue-Ann admitted, she leaned in to me and pulled my hair back so she could whisper in my ear, "He doesn't want to be found." Something hard smacked into the side of my head and my head hit the floor. Sue-Ann dropped the goblet and it rolled to a stop in front of my blurred vision.

I blinked through the blur and lunged at Sue-Ann, my hands found her neck and I pinned her to the ground, squeezing her throat tightly, "I'm sorry, was I not clear earlier? Tell me who he was. What could he do?" I demanded, Sue-Ann feebly clawed at my hands in an effort to escape, but I was far too strong for her. Her eyes were rolling into the back of her head when someone shoved me off of her.

"Steph! What are you doing?" It was Sam, his hands wrapped around my waist and he hauled me up and away from Sue-Ann.

"Sam! She was gonna kill Dean!" I argued, pointing to the mess around the room.

"But you don't need to kill her!" He glared, sighing in relief when Sue-Ann coughed back into life. She rubbed her throat and glared daggers at me, but then she gasped as her eyes found something beyond my shoulder. "Oh my God." She breathed.

I frowned and tilted my head in confusion at her, "He's not your God." Sam corrected Sue-Ann in a cold voice. Sue-Ann suddenly stiffened and I narrowed my eyes, then she released a final breath and slipped to the ground, I stared down at her lifeless body in shock.

"Do you think it's still here?" I asked Sam, looking up at his towering figure.

"I don't know," Sam shrugged honestly, "Come on, let's get out of here." He put a hand on my shoulder and led me out the tent, I stole one last glance at the place where I was choking Sue-Ann to death, and then at the blood on the floor. It was all over my hands and arms too, I was literally dripping with it.

Dean pulled me into a tight hug when we met up at the car, "Are you ok?" He asked, I ignored the dried blood on my palms and nodded.

"Uh-huh."

"What about you? How are you doing?" Sam asked his brother.

Dean let me go and shook his head, "One hell of a week." He admitted.

"Yeah...," Sam nodded, trailing off and catching my eye, "Alright, come one. We should get going."

He said, clapping his hands together. Dean and I nodded in agreement and we all got into the car.

We'd been back in the motel room for two hours, we had all been sitting in silence the entire time, but Dean had seemed a little off. "What is it?" Sam asked, watching him in the dark.

"Nothing." Dean shrugged.

I caught Sam's eyes in the rear-view mirror and raised an eyebrow, I leant forward and rested my hand on his shoulder, "What is it, Dean?" I asked him gently.

"We did the right thing here, didn't we?" He asked.

"Of course we did." Sam assured him.

"It doesn't feel like it." Dean sighed heavily.

Sam sighed and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by an unexpected knock at the door, "I'll get it." Sam said, getting up and opening the door.

"Hey." I turned to see Layla stood in the doorway.

"Hey, Layla. Come on in." Sam greeted, stepping aside and holding the door open to allow her through.

"How did you know we were here?" Dean asked, quickly rising from his set on the bed.

"Oh umm... Sam... called," Layla admitted, my eyes widened and swivelled to Sam, he caught my look and looked down at the floor sheepishly, "He said you... wanted to say goodbye?" Layla glanced at me and went a little red.

Sam grabbed my hand and dragged me to the door, "We're gonna... grab a soda." Sam explained to the two, I was wrestling out of his grip the entire time he was shoving me through the door.

"Why did you do that?" I demanded as soon as Sam shut the door.

"Dean's feeling guilty about stopping Layla from being healed, I called her and asked her to visit so he can move on." Sam explained.

I glared, "Move on from what?"

"Nothing! They didn't do anything, Dean's always been like this: he does something he regrets, he feels guilty for months, maybe even years afterwards. I'm just speeding up the process. It'll benefit all of us, trust me." Sam explained. I scoffed and crouched down to peep through the keyhole of the door, Layla and Dean were both standing up in the middle of the room, Layla looked close to tears. It suddenly hit me what they were probably talking about what they had chatted about last night outside the church: the sudden anger Layla had displayed, followed by the hurt and the anguish over the unfairness of everything. She was right, too: her current situation _was _completely and utterly unfair. She was one of the nicest girls ever and she was going to die in a few months, and she seemed completely at peace with her fate. I held my breath when Layla suddenly gently stroked Dean's cheek, he raised his hand and slowly pushed her hand down and I relaxed a little, the worried thoughts ebbing away when Layla turned towards the door. I scrambled up and leant against the wall casually next to Sam. Layla came out with the tears still in her eyes, I pretended not to notice and gave her a parting smile and followed Sam back into the room, we shut the door behind us just as Layla rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry this took so long to upload, I've had mock weeks – which I still haven't finished. And Christmas is coming up and I've been busy working on the weekends so I've literally had no time to myself. But I'm back, guys, it's all good! Also I'm sorry if this chapter is particularly poor, I really hated episode 12 and 13 in this season, so heads up for the next chapter! I really want to update again before Christmas so I will try my best, the next chapter will be expected to be up when I get say, 98 reviews? Until next time, guys!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Word Count – 14'207 words. (35 pages in size 9 font)**

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter 13 – Route 666**

The three of us were stood outside a petrol station, Sam had a map laid out on the car bonnet and Dean was stood a little way away with his phone to his ear. I was trying to help Sam find out the quickest route to Pennsylvania, but my complete lack of American road knowledge wasn't contributing at all. I squinted in the bright sunlight and tilted my head as I squinted at the map: surely Sam must have figured out the best route, because I had. "Why don't we go through this state here, and cut through this one to get to Pencilvainya?" I pointed to the state on the map.

Sam frowned at where I had pointed to, he reached over and moved my finger up the map so it rested on a completely different spot, "Because the state you were pointing to was Idaho, not Pennsylvania." He smirked.

I stared dumbly at the map, "Oh." I said quietly.

"Yeah, oh." Sam chuckled and turned to Dean, who was finishing his phone conversation, "Ok. I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here. We might even make it to Pennsylvania faster than we thought." He explained.

Dean lowered his phone thoughtfully, "Yeah. Problem is, we're not going to Pennsylvania."

I frowned, "We're not?"

"I just got a call from an, uh," Dean glanced at me, "An old friend. Her father was killed last night, think it might be our kind of thing." He explained hurriedly.

"What?" Sam and I said simultaneously.

"Yeah. Believe me, she never would have called – never, if she didn't need us." Dean nodded, as if he was trying to convince himself. He strode over and got into the car quickly, "Well, are you two coming or not?" He asked. Sam and I exchanged dubious looks before getting in after him.

After enduring an hour of small talk, I decided to lean forward and ask the question that both Sam and I really wanted to ask, "Hey Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"By 'old friend', do you mean...?" I trailed off, finding myself unable to ask him properly.

"A friend that's not new," Dean caught my expression in the rear-view mirror, "But she does _not _consider me to be any friend of hers, so it's fine." He explained.

"So..." Sam filled the silence, "Her name's Cassie, huh? You've, er, you've never mentioned her."

Dean pulled a surprised face, "Didn't I?" He asked.

Sam looked at his brother expectantly.

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we went out."

"You mean you dated somebody? For more than one night?" Sam looked a little doubtful, "Other than Steph, you mean?" He quickly added.

"Am I speaking a foreign language? Dad and I were working a job in Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a couple of weeks." Dean explained, I shrugged, no longer interested in Dean's past relationships. His old girlfriends were none of my concern, I trusted Dean with my life. And I meant that in every sense of the word.

"And..?" Sam pressed.

Dean shrugged a little, keeping his eyes glued on the road.

"Look, it's terrible about her Dad, but it kinda sounds like a standard car accident. I'm not seeing how it fits with what we do." Sam continued.

I leant forward, "Which, by the way, how does she know what you do?"

Dean cleared his throat, looking a little shifty.

"You told her," Sam's eyes bored holes into his older brother, "You told her. The secret. Our big family rule number one – we do what we do and we shut up about it." Sam was slowly working himself up, "For a year and a half I did nothing but lie to Jessica," I winced a little at the mention of his recent girlfriend, "And you! You go out with this chick a couple of times and tell her everything?" Sam was shouting now, proper, full out raging at his brother. Dean stayed silent, staring straight ahead of him.

I decided to interject, "Hey, Sam?"

Sam didn't take his eyes off his brother, "What?" He snapped.

"You guys told me within a few hours of meeting me." I pointed out quietly.

The younger Winchester pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yeah, but that's because you've been doing something similar to us since you were eleven, Steph. Plus, you're a little different from everyone else." He finally tore his blazing gaze from his brother and softened when he looked at me, "And anyway, we both told you so it doesn't really count. I just can't believe _him_." He glared at Dean again. I stayed quiet as Dean put his foot down, the car speeding a little faster, the elder Winchester's eyes glanced at the radio, and I silently begged him not to turn it on. But he did, he turned it up too, making Sam all the more angrier. I sighed and shook my head, turning my attention out the window at the lovely lack of scenery this road had to offer.

We followed Dean into the town's local newspaper office, two middle-aged men were in there with a girl with her back to us, she was wearing a black chiffon day dress and her hair was a mass of wild dark curls. The atmosphere in the room was tense and felt like a charge of electricity waiting to zap, you could sense that the group in here were arguing. One of the men sighed exasperatedly, "Jimmy, you're too close to this. Those guys were friends of yours," The man turned to the girl, "Again, Cassie," _Ah_, I turned my full attention to the girl now, silently speculating what she looked like. All she needed to do was turn around, "I'm very sorry for your loss." The man apologised to Dean's infamous ex and left. The other man walked away and Cassie sighed and turned to us, her eyes instantly going to Dean. Dean had an apprehensive look on his face as he nodded at the girl and grinned, I took the opportunity to study her fully now she I could see her face. She was very pretty, but she wouldn't particularly stand out to me – maybe I was feeling biased, and I think she was wearing too bright a shade of lipstick.

Cassie kept her eyes on Dean, "Dean." She stated.

"Hey Cassie." Dean smiled, staring back at her, I wondered what was going through his mind. After a moment he cleared his throat awkwardly, "This is my brother, Sam. And this," He wrapped his arm around my waist and I tried t give her a friendly smile, "This is Steph." Cassie's gaze flickered to Sam and she gave him a half-smile, but her gaze lingered on me, I could've sworn I saw her lip curl – only for a second. But it was enough.

"I'm sorry about your Dad." I offered to her, even throwing the girl a fake smile.

"Yeah," Cassie nodded, "Me too." She said lamely.

I nodded too but didn't reply, instead I kept my gaze fixed on her expression, trying to analyse Cassie's façade as she stared longingly at Dean.

Cassie had taken us to her Mother's large country estate house, situated on the edge of town. She left the three of us in the lounge whilst she went to make us all a drink, we all stood around awkwardly, off-handedly complimenting the decoration of the room but none of us had taken a seat. Neither Sam or I had commented to Dean about Cassie, and personally I wasn't looking forward to it, and I wanted to prolong the topic as long as possible. "My Mother's in pretty bad shape, I've been staying with her," Cassie explained as she came in carrying a tray loaded with a teapot and cups, "I wish she wouldn't go off by herself. She's been so nervous and frightened, and she was worried about Dad." Cassie admitted sadly as she set down the tray.

"Why?" Dean asked.

Cassie shrugged as she began pouring the tea, "He was scared – he started seeing things."

"Like what?" I asked, keeping my tone as gentle as possible.

"He swore he saw an awful-looking black truck following him." She answered.

"A truck," Sam echoed, "Who was the driver?"

"He didn't talk about a driver," Cassie replied as she handed out cups of tea, "Just the truck. He said it would appear and disappear. And, in the accident, Dad's car was dented – like it had been slammed into something big." She explained.

Sam accepted his cup politely, "Thanks. Now you're sure this dent wasn't there before?" He asked.

Beside me Dean was staring at his tea like it was going to kill him, I smiled into my cup as I took a sip, enjoying the warming nostalgia that tea bought of home. Dean deposited his cup on a side table and pulled a face as Cassie continued talking, "He sold cars. Always drove a new one. There wasn't a scratch on that thing. It had rained hard that night, there was mud everywhere. There was a distinct set of muddy tracks leading from Dad's car... leading right to the edge, where he went over." Cassie answered, she bowed her head and sniffed in an attempt of composure, when she lifted her head back up her brown eyes were shining with tears, "One set of tracks. His."

"The first was a friend of your Father's?" Dean pressed.

"Best friend," Cassie nodded, "Clayton Soames. They owned the car dealership together. Same thing – dent, no tracks. And the cops said exactly what they said about Dad: he 'lost control of his car'." She made a noise of disgust as she combed her hair through her fingers.

"Can you think of any reason why your Father and his partner might be targets?" I asked her.

Cassie shook her head, "No."

"And you think this vanishing truck ran them off the road?" Sam pressed.

Cassie made a face, "When you say it aloud like that... Listen, I'm a little sceptical about this... ghost stuff... or whatever it is you guys are into." She cast an uneasy glance at Dean after she said this.

Dean huffed, "Sceptical." He repeated, "From what I remember, I think you said I was nuts."

"That was then." Cassie replied evenly, meeting Dean's hard gaze and holding it for a moment, "I just know I can't explain what happened up there. So I called you." She explained. I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the door opened and an ageing woman entered, Cassie took the opportunity to cross the room and take the lady's arm, "Mum. Where have you been? I was so-."

"I had no idea you'd invited friends over." Her Mother cut her off abruptly, looking at the three of us in turn.

"Mum, this is Dean, a..." I narrowed my eyes at her obvious pause, "Friend of mine from... college. This is his brother, Sam and that's... Dean's girlfriend, Stephanie." She introduced us, pointing to each of us in turn to her Mother.

"Well, I won't interrupt you." Cassie's Mother smiled thinly.

"Mrs Robinson," Dean stepped forward, "We're all very sorry for your loss. We'd like to talk to you for a minute if you don't mind?"

The woman looked slightly affronted, "I'm really not up for that right now." She explained, then without another word she left the room, leaving the four of us to exchange glances.

The next morning Dean got a call from Cassie saying there had been another accident: a car crash had occurred on the same road where Cassie's Dad had died, the car had 'veered' off the road and ended up in the field next to it. When the three of us got to the crash site we found it swarming with emergency vehicles, we found Cassie – wearing a short leather leather skirt with a low cut blouse. Great. She was walking with the man from yesterday among the officers and paramedics, the car lay upturned in the behind them as we approached them. "Morning." Sam greeted in a grim tone, nodding to the wreck.

"Did the cops check for additional denting on Jimmy's car, see if it was pushed?" Dean asked, cutting straight to the chase.

The man's eyebrows pushed together in a confused frown and he turned to Cassie, "Who's this?" He asked her.

"This is Dean and Sam Winchester, and that's Stephanie," Cassie pointed to us each in turn, "Family friends," She explained briefly, "And this is Mayor Harold Todd." She introduced the man with a tight smile.

"Well, pleasure to meet you three, I'm sure, despite the unfortunate circumstances..." The Mayor trailed off as he shook our hands, "And in response to your previous question, Dean," The Mayor jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the ruined vehicle, "There's only one set of tyre tracks. And one... doesn't point to foul play." He replied, hedging a little.

Cassie cleared her throat, "Mayor, the police and town officials take their cues from you. If you're indifferent about-."

"Indifferent!" The Mayor protested, cutting Cassie off.

Cassie narrowed her eyes, "Would you close the road if the victims were white?" She challenged, my own eyes widened in surprise: I didn't expect Cassie to be so accusing, I glanced at the boys and saw they shared the same looks of amazement.

The Mayor paused, "Are you suggesting that I'm racist, Cassie?" He glared, "I'm the _last _person you should talk to like that." He snapped, I noticed his right hand twitching a bit – as if he was so angry he was going to strike the girl. Not that I was going to do anything to stop that. But Dean would. He stepped away from my side and stood protectively in front of Cassie, but Cassie didn't need protecting.

Instead she raised her chin defiantly, "And why is that?"

The Mayor smirked and crossed his arms, "Why don't you ask your Mother?" He said in a wicked tone, without waiting for a reply he walked away, leaving the four of us standing in the field.

After dropping Cassie off home, the rest of the day had been uneventful; Dean and I were both in the bathroom whilst Sam had requested privacy to get changed; we had to get dressed up to pose for a fake insurance company, "Well, she seemed nice." I said to Dean as I dried my wet hair from the shower.

He nodded, "She is."

"I feel kinda bad for her, especially as she has to look after her Mum alone now, too." I continued, folding up the towel and draping it across the radiator.

"Mmm." Dean agreed, his eyes fixed on a spot on the floor.

"Hey," I said, walking over to him, "Is everything ok?"

Dean raised his head a little as he looked at me, "Fine." He edged a smile.

I raised an eyebrow, "Just fine?"

"Just fine." Dean confirmed.

I rolled my eyes and kissed him, letting the seconds turn the kiss into a moment. We didn't bother to stop when the door opened and Sam walked in, he scrunched his face up as soon as he set his sights on us, "Ew, guys! I _really _don't wanna see gross stuff like that." He protested, he was in the middle of buttoning up a crisp striped shirt.

Dean groaned against my lips and reluctantly broke off the kiss, "Don't be such a baby, Sammy." Dean scolded, shooting his brother a look.

Sam glanced at me and then looked away, his cheeks reddening, I smirked and grabbed a towel and used it to cover myself. "Dean," Sam said, "_Please _put some pants on – for everyone's sake." He pleaded.

Dean chuckled and nodded, "You're the biggest prude, Sammy." He teased and walked past his brother and into the adjourning room. He gave me a secret smile as he shut the door, I grinned to myself and grabbed the black dress I used for impersonating a federal agent or a representative.

As I slipped into the tight black fabric I heard the boys conversing outside the door, "I'll say this for Cassie, she's fearless." I heard Sam say.

"Mm-hmm." I heard Dean's reply, I was quite glad that he sounded uninterested about Cassie.

"Bet she kicked your ass a couple of times." Sam's tone was joking now, although I wish he'd stop, "What's interesting is you guys never really look at each other at the same time," Sam continued, I found my eyes narrowing as I pulled on my black tights, "You look at her when she's not looking, and I've seen her check you out when you look away." I could hear the smile in Sam's voice now, I was going to kill him. "It's just a... just an interesting observation in a, you know, observationally interesting way." That was enough, I grabbed the stupid heels that went with the stupid outfit and snapped my palm against the air, the door flew open, almost snapping from it's worn hinges as I stalked through.

I set my icy gaze on the younger Winchester, "Don't you think we might have more pressing issues here, Sam?"

Sam's grin had long gone from his face and he squirmed, much to my satisfaction, "Nu- It's just..." He sighed and took a deep breath and tried again, "Hey if I'm hitting a nerve-."

I cut him off before he could finish his argument, "_Trust _me, I think I have enough on my plate rather than worry about what Dean's supposedly doing. I trust him enough to not betray me by doing anything stupid with Cassie, because he knows I'd kill him if he did. Now let's go – or did you want to annoy me any further?" I finished my rant with a piercing glare at Sam before grabbing Dean's hand and pulling him out the door, Sam trudged behind with a red face.

I ignored Sam the entire car journey over to the docks on the edge of the town, and walked ahead of him even as we approached the two old men having lunch on the pier, "Excuse me, are you Ron Stubbins?" I asked the man politely, but of course I knew it was him, we had studied these two men before coming here.

Ron's eyes travelled appreciatively down my body before nodding, I tried not to shudder in revulsion as Dean stepped in front of me, "You were friends with Jimmy Anderson?" He asked in a clipped tone.

Ron frowned at him, irritated that he could no longer see me, "Who are you?" He asked.

"We're Mr Anderson's insurance company. We're just here to dot 'I's' and cross 'T's'." Dean assured him hastily, wanting to move on to more important matters.

"We were just wondering," Sam stepped forward, "Had the deceased mentioned any... unusual recent experiences?"

Ron regarded him with tired, wary eyes, "What do you mean, 'unusual'?"

I stepped around Dean, "My colleague is referring to experiences such as visions, or maybe hallucinations. It's all part of a standard protocol medical examination." I explained smoothly.

Ron stroked his chin thoughtfully, "And what company did you say you were with?"

"_All National Mutual_. Tell us, did he ever mention seeing a truck – a big black truck?" Dean asked, taking over.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you even speaking English?" Ron exclaimed.

Ron's friend leaned forward, "This truck," He said, "A big, scary montser-looking thing?" He asked.

Dean glanced at Sam and I, "Yeah actually," He nodded, turning to Ron's friend.

"Hmm." Ron's friend nodded slowly.

"What?" I asked.

"I have heard of a truck like that." Ron's friend replied.

"You have? Where?" Sam pressed.

Ron's friend shook his head, "Not where. When. Back in the '60s there was a string of deaths. Black men. Story goes, they disappeared in a big, nasty, black truck." He explained.

"Did they ever catch the guy who did it?" Dean questioned.

The old man shrugged, "Never found him. Hell, not sure they even really looked. You see there was a time, this town wasn't too friendly to all it's citizens." He said pointedly. I remembered one of the History lessons the reflection had sat in once, it was about the racial discrimination in America that only ended in the late 1960s. The reflection had sat through it attentively, and had absorbed everything the teacher had been talking about whilst it's classmates had stared out the window or at their desks in boredom.

"Thank you." I said, before the three of us turned away and walked back to the car.

"Truck," Sam said, "It keeps coming up, doesn't it?"

Dean nodded, "You know, I was thinking. Have you ever heard of the _Flying Dutchman_?" He asked.

"Uh yeah, a ghost ship, infused with the Captain's evil spirit. It was basically part of him." Sam nodded as he cliff-noted the old folk story.

"You think we're dealing with the same thing." I anticipated Dean's response.

He nodded, "Uh-huh, think about it: a phantom truck, an extension of some bastard's ghost, re-enacting past crimes."

"The victims have all been black men." Sam shrugged, thinking over the possibility of it.

"I reckon it's more than that. They all seem connected to Cassie and her family." Dean replied.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "Of course it is." I muttered bitterly under my breath.

"Alright. Well, you work that angle, go talk to her." Sam suggested.

I frowned at Sam: was he stupid, or was he just really asking for a box? I opened my mouth, but Dean put a hand on my shoulder, "Maybe I will, because we're just _friends_." He emphasised.

"Oh, and you might wanna mention that other thing." Sam smirked.

Dean frowned whilst I stared blankly at the younger Winchester, deciding whether to hit him in the face or the stomach, "What other thing?" Dean asked.

"The serious unfinished business." Sam's smirk grew wider.

Dean fell into an obstinate silence and I narrowed my eyes, "I swear to God, Sam." I hissed.

Sam burst out laughing, "Oh come _on_, Steph, you must have seen it too! Dean, what is going on between you two?" He asked his brother.

"There's nothing going on between them, Sam! Right, Dean?" I turned to Dean for help, but tilted my head when Dean shifted a little.

"Alright. So... maybe Cassie and I were a little bit more involved than I said." Dean admitted.

I stared at Dean, "You're kidding."

Dean stayed silent and ran a hand through my long dark hair and scoffed before getting into the car and huffing in the backseat: what if he really _did _still have feelings for Cassie, and I was just his rebound? What if... I shook my head angrily. _Geez_, a voice in my head sounded, _get a grip, Valkyrie. Look at yourself. _The voice was right: I'd become this... this silly little girl in the space of a few weeks. And I was going crazy over this thing with Dean. Ok, it would truly suck if I was just his rebound, but if we ended it I was damn sure it would be on my terms, not his.

Sam and Dean got in the car silently and we pulled away from the dock, it was only until we'd passed the local bar did I realise something: that voice in my head... I knew exactly who that voice was...

_Darquesse_.

_Dean's P.O.V_

I felt truly awful about lying to Stephanie about Cassie, but I honestly thought that she'd never have to find out about it. When she was defending me in front of Sam in the motel I wish I'd said something, but she was so angry at Sam and I really, _really _didn't want to deal with that. Although Sam was being really annoying with his teasing today, it's like he was asking for a punch from Stephanie, I wouldn't have stopped her if she did hit him, he really _was _being annoying today. With heavy steps and a deep sigh I climbed the porch to Cassie's house and gave three hesitant knocks on the door. This wasn't going to be easy.

Cassie answered it with her usual cheeriness, "Dean!" She exclaimed happily, her bright lipsticked smile lighting her chocolate eyes, they were dark, but not as dark as Stephanie's.

"Hey." I gave her a smile.

"Come on in." Her smile grew wider when she saw I was alone, and stepped aside and opened the door wider.

I stepped through and walked until I reached the living room, where I turned and hesitated, "So... You busy, or..." I trailed off lamely.

"The paper's doing a tribute to Jimmy. I was just going through his stuff... his awards, trying to find the words." Cassie gestured to the mass of paperwork on the desk and I nodded.

"That's gotta be tough." I offered.

"For years this family owned the paper. The Dorians? The had a 'White's Only' policy. After they sold it Jimmy became the first black reporter. He didn't stop until he became the editor, he taught me everything..." She explained, casting a sad glance over the desk, "Where's your brother?" She asked.

I shrugged, "Not here."

Cassie nodded slowly, "And, uh, and Stephanie?" She asked.

"She's with Sam somewhere." I shrugged again.

"Alright. So, uh, what brings you here?" Cassie asked.

"Trying to find the connection between the three victims," I answered, "By the way, did you talk to your Mum about what Todd said about not being a racist?"

"I did," Cassie nodded, "She didn't wanna talk about it."

"Right." I nodded lamely.

There was a heavy pause.

"So," I cleared my throat, "Just then, why did you ask where Sam and Steph were?"

"Nothing. Nothing important." Cassie shrugged.

"Could it be because, without them it's just you and me? Not you, me, Steph and Sam – which would be easier?" I challenged.

Cassie's eyes widened in protest, "It's not easier... Look, I..." She trailed off and I scoffed and turned away.

"No," I cut her off, "Forget it. It's fine, we'll just keep it strictly business."

Cassie sighed in exasperation, "I forgot you do that."

"Do what?" I turned back.

"Oh, where we get, what's the word? Close. Anywhere in the _neighbourhood _of emotional vulnerability, you back off. Or make some joke. Anything to shut the door on me." She explained, the anger bristling in her eyes.

I narrowed my eyes and barked a laugh, "Oh, that is _hilarious_." I stormed over to her and towered over her, "You see, I'm not the one who took that big final door and slammed it behind me."

"Ok, wait a minute-."

"And I'm not the one who took the key and buried it." I added.

Cassie put her hands on her hips, "We done with this metaphor?"

I held up my hands, "All I'm saying is I was totally up front with you back then, and then you nailed me for it."

"The guy I'm with – the guy I'm hoping might be in my future, tells me he professionally 'pops ghosts'." Cassie snapped, holding up a hand for quotation marks.

"That's not the words I used." I protested.

"And that he has to leave, to go work with his father." She continued angrily.

"I did!"

"All I could think was: if you wanted out fine, but don't tell me this insane story." Cassie's anger was overtaken by hurt as it washed over her eyes, nevertheless I was too angry myself to stop and consider her.

"It was the truth, Cassie!" I said, raising my voice, "And I notice it didn't sound insane the minute you thought I could help you."

"Well back then I thought you wanted to dump me." Cassie glared.

I stared at her in shock for two seconds, "Whoa! Now let's not forget who dumped who, ok?"

"I thought it was what you wanted." Cassie crossed her arms.

"Well it wasn't."

"I didn't mean to hurt you." She continued.

"Well you did."

"I'm sorry!" Cassie's voice was raised now.

I sighed heavily, "Yeah, I was too."

The girl raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, you _were_?" She asked.

"Yeah, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm with Steph." I frowned.

"Yeah, but-."

"But nothing, Cassie." I cut her off and sighed.

She reached up and stroked my cheek, "You're telling me that you never thought about me after you left?" She whispered, the feelings I had been keeping down before I met Stephanie came rushing up to the surface and we stared at eachother, the silence was deafening.

And then it happened.

Our lips furiously met and I pushed her back until she hit the wall, my hands running through her hair and reintroducing me with her body.

"It's been four hours, Sam, he can't have been with Cassie this whole time, could he?" I asked Sam for the umpteenth time. I had been spending the entire time changing between fiddling with a flame in my hand, playing with the shadows in the room and pacing nervously whilst Sam sat on a chair watching me the entire time.

"It's fine, Steph. They're probably just catching up, or maybe Dean stopped for food or something." Sam shrugged.

I plopped on the nearest bed. _Calm, Valkyrie. Calm. _"Yeah, maybe you're right." I sighed. The phone next to Sam on the coffee table started buzzing, and Sam lazily answered it.

"Hello?" Sam asked. I sat up, part of me hoping it was Dean, but the other part was telling me not to be so ridiculous. "Really? Oh, we're sorry to hear that. Yeah, we'll be right there." Sam shut off the call and stood up.

"What happened?" I asked, standing up with him.

"Another body's been found just outside of town, body completely broken." Sam explained briefly.

"Has the body been identified yet?" I asked, shrugging on my beloved black jacket.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna give Dean a call. Meet me downstairs?" Sam replied, I nodded and left the younger Winchester to his own devices.

_Dean's P.O.V_

I was lying on my back in Cassie's bed next to my ex, thinking about Stephanie.

Yep, she was gonna kill me.

I stared up at the ceiling contemplating what to do, I had two choices: either come clean with Steph, or lie to her.

Lying seemed easier, but Steph was so turned on all the time, and she picked up on everything. Hell, she probably already knew about Cassie and I already. Cassie suddenly stirred and smiled as she looked up at me, "We should fight more often." She said.

"Absolutely." I replied in a monotonous tone.

"Actually, we were always pretty good at fighting," Cassie continued, not noticing my stiff tone, she indicated our position, "_This_ we were good at." Her smile grew wider, she gently glided her soft fingers up and down my arm. Stephanie popped up in my head again and I shifted away from her automatically, Cassie sat up as I got up from the bed, "I don't get it, what's wrong?" She frowned sadly at me.

I sighed, "Cassie, remember that girl that was with me and Sam when we first met up with you?"

Cassie frowned then nodded, "Yeah, the dark-haired girl, right?

"Right. Well, the thing is... I'm sort of... with her at the moment." I stumbled over my words awkwardly.

Cassie's frown disappeared and she broke into a coy smile, "Well, you're not with her at _this _moment, are you?" She reached up and stroked my bare chest.

My jaw clenched a little at her touch but I fought against the feeling and backed away, "Cassie, this is wrong." I told her.

"Then why does it feel so good?" My ex sighed, I stayed quiet and started putting my clothes on, ignoring Cassie's stare. "Why'd you tell me?" She suddenly asked.

"Huh?" It was my turn to frown as I buttoned up my shirt.

"When you told me who you _really_ were, why did you?" The girl continued.

I shrugged thoughtfully, "I don't know. I guess I couldn't lie to you." I confessed.

"Dean. You told me that story... it scared the hell outta me. I thought you were nuts – dangerous, even..." Cassie trailed off, then frowned at the floor, "Actually, maybe I _was _looking for a reason to walk away." She admitted quietly.

I nodded slowly, "In my work, I, uh, I see horrible things. Things that can't be explained, I deal with them. But working things out with you?" I scoffed, despite everything, a smile crept onto my face.

Cassie smiled too, "I'm a scary one, alright," Her hand found mine and rested on top of it, "Well, usually, things get worked out. When you really want to."

It took me a few seconds to work out what she was trying to say, and when I did my hand moved away, "Cassie... I can't do this. It's unfair to Steph – and I _really _want me and her to work." I explained.

Cassie sighed and looked away, an uncomfortable silence settled.

Thankfully my phone started to ring, I answered it in relief, "Yeah?"

"Dean? Where are you?" It was Sam.

"I'm, uh... I hit a bar on the way back, lost track of time. Sorry, Sammy." I lied smoothly, Cassie bit her lip and got out of bed to change.

"Not as sorry as you're gonna be. Steph's gonna kill you," Sam answered.

My insides clenched. Oh God, no.

"She is?" I asked in a dreaded tone.

"Yeah man, you went four hours without calling in," Sam continued, oblivious to my sudden panic, "Anyway, we got another call. Another body's been found in a field next to the same road the other victim died on."

"You're kidding?" I asked in a more upbeat tone, trying to ignore Cassie as she pulled on her shoes and shot me one last look as she exited the room.

"No, Steph and I are heading down there now, meet us there?" Sam replied.

I nodded, even though Sam couldn't see, "Yeah, sure. I'm on my way now." I shut the phone off and sighed in relief, but it was only until I reached the door did I realise I had made a decision: Steph and Sam didn't need to know about what I did with Cassie.

I found Sam and Steph all dressed up posing as federal agents, Sam was wearing his monkey suit and Steph had donned that dress we bought her when we had to pose as Homeland Security officials for the plane crash. It was tighter than tight, sheer black and clinging to her like a second skin, it was short enough so I could see how muscled and toned her legs were – and the black heels she was wearing only enhanced them. As I approached the crash site Sam spied me over the officer's shoulder and he nodded his head towards me, "And he's with me." Sam said to the officer, the man nodded and lifted up the police tape to allow me to pass. Steph was a little way away talking to two officers, Sam grabbed my arm and pulled me a little way away from the crowd. "Where were you?" Sam asked.

I feigned confusion, "I told you. I hit a bar on the way back from Cassie's." I replied.

Sam narrowed his eyes, "And yet you don't smell of alcohol at all?"

I rolled my eyes, "What? Man can't go in a bar and order a non-alcoholic drink?"

"_You _can't." Sam shrugged, "Come on, Dean, where were you really?" He pressed.

I stayed silent, although I knew Sam would be reading me like a picture book.

"I'm guessing you and Cassie worked things out?" Sam guessed.

I shrugged, "You could say that."

My brother sagged, "Oh my God. You had sex with her, didn't you?"

"It's not like that," I said quickly, "I've been regretting it ever since, trust me."

Sam ran a hand through his shaggy hair, "Steph's going to _kill _you."

I shook my head jerkily, "No, no, no. She's not gonna find out. _Please _Sam." I looked at my little brother with imploring eyes.

Sam didn't respond, his attention had moved to something behind me. I turned to see Steph approaching, a big, dazzling smile lighting up her features. "Where have you been?" Steph asked as soon as she stopped.

"Oh you know," I painted a big smile on my face as I hugged her, "I hit a sweet bar on the way back."

Steph was quiet as she hugged me back, I inhaled her smell and closed my eyes: I definitely didn't want to let this go. "Good. I was worried for a moment there." Steph replied.

I let go of her, "You were?" I tried to be nonchalant.

She raised an elegant eyebrow, "Worried in the four hours you were gone? Uh... yes!" She smiled that smile I loved so much again.

I turned to Sam, "So, what happened?"

Sam was staring at me, although it looked like he was focused on something else, his mind was clearly thinking about what I'd just told him. "Sam?" Steph called his name lightly. Sam snapped

out of it and his eyes met mine.

"Uhh... Every bone rushed, internal organs turned to pudding, and, uh, what else..?" Sam trailed off, clearly distracted.

Stephanie sent him a bewildered look, "And the officers are all stumped, but by the looks of it, my guess is something ran him over." She finished.

"Something like a truck?" I asked.

Steph nodded, "Yep." She said, popping the 'p'.

"Are there any tracks?"

"Nope." Steph shook her head.

I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair, "What was the mayor doing here anyway?"

"He owned the property," Sam piped up, "Bought it a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, but he's white. He doesn't fit the pattern." I pointed out.

"Plus the killing didn't happen on the road, that doesn't fit either." Steph added.

I sighed again, "Great."

Sam had said that we all had to look into the case a little more, so that meant research. He went to the library whilst Steph and I had to go to the newsroom. Where Cassie worked. She was, at first, surprised to see me, but after the initial shock of seeing me again faded she maintained a civil manner towards me and ignored Steph altogether. Steph and I were at a computer whilst Cassie was eyeing me by the coffee machine, sending me longing looks. Eventually, Steph leaned over to me, "Didn't you work things out with her?" She whispered.

I shrugged, "I think so." I answered briefly, not wanting to talk about it.

Steph sighed and turned her attention back to the computer screen, Cassie walked over holding a cup of coffee, "Do you need help with anything?" She asked me.

"We're trying to find a link between those killings back in the sixties and what's going on now." I answered, nodding my head towards the computer screen.

"It looks like there wasn't a lot about it in the newspapers." Steph piped up.

"Not surprising," Cassie gave Steph a dull look, "There was probably minimal police work, too. Back then equal justice under the law wasn't too literal around here." She explained stiffly, Steph gave Cassie a hard stare and I cleared my throat a little awkwardly. My phone started to ring and I actually sighed in relief as I answered it.

"Yeah?"

"Okay, the courthouse records show that Mr. and Mrs. Mayor bought an abandoned property. The previous owner was the Dorian family for, like, one hundred and fifty years." Sam's voice reached my ears and I frowned at the new information.

"Dorian?" I echoed.

I turned to the girls, "Didn't you say the Dorian family used to own this paper?" I asked my ex.

Cassie nodded, "Along with almost everything else around here. They were real pillars of the town."

Steph tilted her head, "Dorian, where have I heard that before?" She murmured, then turned back to the computer and bought up an article with a headline that read:

**DORIAN STILL MISSING:**

**CYRUS DORIAN MISSING FOR MORE THAN A WEEK**

"Huh," I said, reading the headline, "That's interesting."

"What?" Sam asked, still on the phone.

"This Cyrus Dorian guy – he vanished in April of '63. The case was investigated but never solved. That's right around the time the string of murders was going on back then." I explained.

"Well, I pulled a bunch of paper up on the Dorian place, it must have been in bad shape when the mayor bought it." Sam replied.

"Why?"

"The first thing he did was bulldoze the place." He answered.

I turned to Cassie, "Mayor Todd knocked down the Dorian place?"

"It was a big deal. One of the oldest houses left, made the front page." She nodded.

"Sam, you got a date?" I spoke into the phone.

"Uhhh, the third of last month." Sam replied.

Steph heard and began typing onto the keyboard, she bought up another article and turned the screen to show me:

**MAYOR BUYS, BULDOZES HISTORIC HOME. HERITAGE COMMITTEE QUESTIONS CIVIC LEADERSHIP**

"Sam get this: Mayor Todd bulldozed the Dorian family home on the third. The first killing was the very next day." I told my brother, glancing over the article.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

"I hate her, Dean. I'm sorry, but I do." I scoffed as we entered our motel room. After we had researched more about the Dorian family we left Cassie and regrouped with Sam. After spending a few hours being in the same room with her, I decided that I didn't like her.

"Steph." Sam cautioned as the boys entered after me.

"What? She _ignored _me, Sam." I snapped, running a hand through my hair frustratedly, "She's such a – a _bitch_!"

"Well, as soon as this case is done you'll never have to see her again. Can you do that, or are you really _that _difficult?" Dean replied, following Sam into the room.

I bit my lip, knowing I must have hit a nerve with Dean there. Maybe I had stepped over the line a little, instead I sighed, "Fine." I said dejectedly.

"Good. Now let's get some food. I'm starving." Dean smiled, clapping his hands together, "What do you want? Burger, Pizza..?" He turned towards the door.

Sam and I exchanged a glance, "Whatever you're having is good." Sam shrugged, sitting down on one of the beds and stretching.

"Burgers it is." Dean grinned and headed for the door, before his hand could reach the rusting door handle his phone burst into his usual guitar rift. He frowned when he saw who it was and answered, "Yeah?"

Across the room, you could clearly here what the person was saying, "Dean! Dean! T-the truck – it's here!" It was Cassie, and she sounded close to hysterical. The sultry undertone was gone from her voice, it was laced with genuine fear.

"Ok, Cassie. Everything's fine. It's gonna be alright, where are you?" Dean replied in a calm voice.

"I'm at home, it's outside the door." Cassie answered, her voice had reached a new pitch, which in itself was impressive.

"Ok, stay there. We're on our way." Dean said.

"Hurry!"

Dean shut off the phone and looked at us, "We gotta go." He opened the door and rushed out, Sam and I following close behind.

When we arrived at Cassie's house it was around 3am, and the first lights of dawn were dappling over the violet sky, the pastel canvas was speckled with speckled with small, wispy clouds. The truck was nowhere to be seen, so Cassie came running out as soon as we pulled up and jumped into Dean's arms and embraced him tightly. Needless to say I was already holding back the urge to hit her – and we had only been here a few seconds. It was impressive, really.

Eventually Dean managed to gently push Cassie off, "Come on, let's get inside." He said, slowly pulling away from her and pointedly walking over to stand next to me. Cassie took a long look at Dean and I before nodding slowly and walking back inside, Sam followed after her. "I saw that, by the way." Dean said as he wrapped an arm around my waist as we walked slowly up the driveway.

I raised an eyebrow, "Saw what?"

"That look you gave Cassie." Dean smirked, "She may have missed it, but I sure as hell didn't."

I feigned a look of innocence, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Sure you don't." He said playfully. We reached the door and suddenly Dean stopped, "Steph?" He called.

I gave him a smile, "Yeah?"

"I have to tell you something." Dean announced in a serious tone.

My smile faded, "What is it?"

Dean was quiet for a minute, staring at me.

"Dean?" My mind was going at a mile a minute, all these possibilities springing up in my head, but my face maintained my mask of calm.

"It's just... you know when I went to Cassie's?" Dean stuttered.

There was an empty feeling growing in my stomach, "Yeah?"

"I, uh, I... was thinking about, uh, if you ever go back home I'll never see you again." The older Winchester murmured, his fingers stroking my waist longingly.

I relaxed, expecting the worst, then I was hit with waves of sadness at his point, "But Dean, I don't think I'll ever be going home again. There's certain adept discipline known as 'Shunting' where people can literally put people in other realities and dimensions. I've been shunted before, and you always go back after a few trips there and back. Well, I haven't gone back home and I've been here for months, so I think I'm stuck here." I explained sadly.

Dean mirrored my sad smile, "I wouldn't use the word 'stuck'." He said, stroking my cheek gently, I closed my eyes against his touch and when I opened them, Dean was leaning down, his lips met mine and I closed my eyes again, savouring the moment. We slowly backed up until my back hit a wall, we stayed there for a moment until Dean deepened the kiss, his hands running through my hair at the same time, then his hands went down past my neck and his fingers danced over my body.

We were interrupted by a loud cough in the doorway, I reluctantly pulled away from Dean to find his brother stood there with an annoyed look on his face. "Guys, now is _so _not the time for that." Sam groaned.

I smiled a little sheepishly, and left Dean by the wall and entered the house. Cassie was in the living room with her Mother. They were both sat down on one of the sofas that was in the room, Cassie gave me a suspicious look when I entered, "Where's Dean?" She asked.

"He's, err," I looked back at the hallway, Sam had closed the front door and he looked like he was having a word with his older brother outside, "He's outside with Sam." I answered, turning back around to the two girls.

"Oh." Cassie replied.

"Yeah." I nodded awkwardly.

There was a silence.

"You know what? I'm gonna go make some tea." I suggested, gesturing towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, you do that." Cassie nodded in agreement.

I walked away, entering a cupboard and the pantry before finding the kitchen in the maze-house.

_Dean's P.O.V_

Ok, so Steph wasn't Cassie's biggest fan, I could understand, especially when we pulled up my ex came running out and jumped into my arms. Maybe I should have really thought about taking this hunt before jumping onto the case. "Come on," I said to Cassie, gently pushing her off, "Let's go inside." As soon as Cassie was off of me I walked over to Steph and stood beside her, just in case Cassie got the wrong signals. My ex gave me a long look, I knew she was thinking about earlier, I returned her a look, silently communicating with her. She eventually nodded slowly and flounced off towards the house, Sam followed her. "I saw that, by the way." I gave Steph a look as I wrapped my arm around her waist, she wasn't as soft as Cassie, but she was firmer – more toned after the lifestyle she had led, if she took her jacket off that dress she was wearing allowed you to see just how well maintained and used her muscles were. I think Steph had the jacket tailored to fit her like a second skin to serve as a ruse to enemies, the jacket only allowed people to see her figure, making her appear as an easy opponent to fight.

Steph raised a dark eyebrow, "Saw what?" She asked in a light tone as we slowly walked up the driveway.

I smirked at her, "That look you gave Cassie. She my have missed it, but I sure as hell didn't."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Steph shook her head, her eyes widening innocently.

I rolled my eyes, "Sure you don't." I teased. When we reached the door I suddenly stopped in my tracks, making a quick decision in my mind, "Steph?"

The dark-haired girl gave me a smile, "Yeah?"

I took a deep breath, "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" She asked, her good mood slowly deteriorating along with her smile.

I hesitated, trying to pick the right words to tell her – but how do you tell someone you cheated on them with your ex?

"Dean?" Steph prompted, her face a masquerade of serenity.

"It's just..." I fumbled for the correct phrase, "You know when I went to Cassie's?" I asked, opting for another approach.

"Yeah?" Steph frowned a little.

"I uh..." I hesitated again, then changed my mind, "I... was thinking about, uh," I picked a random topic, "If you ever go back home I'll never see you again." I explained, my fingers gliding over her waist.

Steph visibly relaxed – she must have been expecting me to drop a bomb on her... which I was, "But Dean, I don't think I'll ever be going home again. There's certain adept discipline known as 'Shunting' where people can literally put people in other realities and dimensions. I've been shunted before, and you always go back after a few trips there and back. Well, I haven't gone back home and I've been here for months, so I think I'm stuck here." Steph explained, a sadness shining in her eyes as she recalled all these old memories from her past.

I reached out and stroked her cheek, "I wouldn't use the word 'stuck'." I smiled sadly. She closed her eyes and I leant in to her slowly, finding her lips. She was surprised at first, but she accepted and returned the kiss, we slowly backed up until Steph stopped at the wall, I waited a moment until I decided to take the kiss further, my hands ran through her hair before moving down past her neck and around her body.

A loud cough from the doorway prevented us from going any further. Steph slowly pulled away and looked over my shoulder, but I could tell just from the cough who it was, "Guys, now is _so _not the time for that." Of course, it was my little brother blocking me, I would've rolled my eyes if I'd cared enough. Steph had a sheepish grin on her face as she left me by the wall and walked inside, I went to follow her but Sam shut the door and stood in my path.

I sighed, "What is it?" I asked.

Sam crossed his arms, "You _know _what, Dean. What are you doing?"

"What?" I protested, keeping my voice in the same hushed tone as Sam's so no one would come outside, "Steph and I are two consenting adults, there's nothing wrong about what we were doing."

My brother glared, "That's not what I was talking about, Dean. You had sex with your ex several hours ago, and now you're fooling around with Steph? It's not right."

This time I did roll my eyes, "I don't have to explain myself to you. Now move."

Sam glowered at me for a few moments before he scoffed and stepped aside and allowed me to go in, I reached the door when he grabbed onto my shoulder, "Just this time, Dean. But if you screw up with Steph again, I'll tell her." He threatened, I didn't respond and entered the house.

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

After making a pot of tea I put two cups on a tray with the pot and bought it out to the two women in the living room. As I was entering the room a door on the other side of the house opened and Sam and Dean appeared as I set the tray down on the coffee table, "Thanks." Cassie muttered, although it sounded a little begrudged.

"So, Cassie, did you see who was driving the truck at all?" Dean asked, sitting down on an armchair, Sam moved and sat in the other armchair, whilst I remained on my feet.

"Seemed to be no one. Everything was moving so fast, and then it was just gone... why didn't it kill us?" Cassie replied.

Dean shrugged in return, "Whoever's controlling the truck wants you afraid first."

"Mrs. Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died." Sam said to the ageing woman gently.

Mrs. Robinson stared at a spot unknown to everyone else on the floor. Cassie leant forward and frowned, "Mum?"

Mrs. Robinson's gaze snapped snapped up, "Mm?" She looked at the three of us blankly, "Oh, Martin was under a lot of stress. You can't be sure what he was seeing." She answered in a dull voice.

"Well, after tonight, I think we can be reasonably sure that he was seeing a truck. What happened tonight – you and Cassie are marked, ok? And your daughter could die." Dean pointed out.

"So, if you know something, now would be a really good time to tell us about it." I added, giving the ageing lady a small, friendly smile.

Cassie's frown deepened, "Hey, guys-."

Her Mum cut her off abruptly, "Yes. Yes, he said he saw a truck." She said, nodding.

"Did he know who it belonged to?" Sam asked.

Mrs. Robinson's eyebrows creased together in a thoughtful expression, "He thought he did."

"And who was that?" I pressed, trying to be as nice as possible.

The woman made a noise – as if she had been kicked in the throat, I looked at her intently and saw she was choking back tears, "Cyrus," She said in a strained tone, "A man named Cyrus."

I glanced at Dean and we shared a look: the named sounded so familiar... Dean pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it, I recognised it as the article we had researched earlier, "Is this Cyrus?" Dean asked, showing Mrs. Robinson the article photo.

Mrs. Robinson nodded, her hands were shaking a little, "Yes, but Cyrus Dorian died more than forty years ago." She replied.

My eyes widened in surprise, "How do you know that? The paper said he went missing, how do you know he died, Mrs. Robinson?" I asked her gently.

The woman took a deep breath, and looked up at us with bright eyes, "We were all very young. I dated Cyrus for a while, but I was also seeing Martin – in secret of course. Interracial couples didn't go over too well back then," She explained, "When I broke it off with Cyrus, and when he found out about Martin... I don't know, he – he changed. His, err, his hatred – it was frightening." Her voice was breathless, her eyes reliving the moments.

Sam looked over to Dean and I, "The string of murders." He muttered.

"There were rumours," Mrs. Robinson nodded, "People of colour were disappearing in some kind of truck, but nothing was ever done." The tears that had pooled in her eyes overflowed her lids, and streamed down her ageing face, "Martin and I, we were, uh, going to be married in this little church near town. But at the last minute, we decided to elope – we didn't want the attention."

"And Cyrus?" I asked.

Mrs. Robinson sniffed loudly, and I almost flinched in disgust, "The day we set for the wedding was... the day someone set fire to the church," She started the inevitable sobbing, "There was a children's choir practising. They all died."

Sam handed her a tissue, "Did the attacks stop after that?"

The woman shook her head, her eyes red and holding a broken melancholy in them, "No. There was one more. One night, that truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible," She closed her eyes and exhaled, "But Martin, you see, Martin got loose. He started hitting Cyrus, and he just kept hitting and hitting him..." She trailed off and didn't continue.

"Why didn't he call the cops?" Dean frowned.

Mrs. Robinson's eyes snapped open and she set her sights on Dean, the melancholy replaced with incredulity, "This was forty years ago! He called on his friends, err, Clayton Solmes and Jimmy Anderson, and they put Cyrus' body into the truck and rolled it into the swamp at the edge of his land, and all three of them kept that secret all these years!" She exclaimed, her tone bordering on the verge of hysteria.

"And now all three are gone." Sam concluded.

"So Is Mayor Todd," I nodded, and stepped closer to Mrs Robinson, "Now, he said that you, of all people, would know that he's not a racist. Why would he say that?"

The woman regarded me for a moment before replying, "He was a good man, a young deputy back then who was investigating Cyrus' disappearance. Once he figured out what Martin and the others, he did nothing. Because he knew what Cyrus had done." She explained.

Cassie sobbed beside her Mother and she looked at her with sad eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I was protecting them," Mrs. Robinson started crying again, joining her daughter in the tears, "And now there's no one left to protect." She cried.

"Yes there is." Sam comforted, nodding his head to Cassie, she looked at Dean but he looked away awkwardly, not meeting her gaze. Her Mother took her daughter's hand in her own, and they cried silently.

The three of us were stood outside the car after saying our brief goodbyes to Cassie and her Mother, we were leaning on the bonnet of the car watching the sun slowly rise up in the pale iris-coloured sky. "My life was so simple; just schools, exams, papers on polyentcentric cultural norms." Sam scoffed and we chuckled.

"So, I guess I saved you from a boring existence." Dean smiled, "And saved Steph from being stranded on the side of the Centennial Highway." He added.

Sam leant forward, "Actually, if you think about it – you were the one who was all for leaving her." His younger brother corrected.

I rolled my eyes, "And what makes you think I was stranded? I'd have figured something out."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Oh please, you had no idea where you even _were_, Steph."

I frowned, "Yes, I did." I protested.

"Oh yeah?" Sam challenged, "Tell us, Steph. Where exactly is the Centennial Highway?"

"It's, uh," I scoffed, "This is a stupid game, guys. Everyone knows where the Cen-thingy Highway is."

Dean and Sam exchanged a look, "So you can tell us where it starts and ends, huh?"

I nodded confidently, "Yup."

"Then where is it?" Dean smirked.

I faltered. Damn. "It's... It's – It's in America, guys. Come on." I rolled my eyes and jumped off the car as the boys laughed.

"Yeah..." Sam trailed off, trying to change the subject, the smile drfited off his face and he stared off into the distance, "You know something? Occasionally, I miss boring." He said in a sad, mournful tone. His eyes flashed with pain and I knew he was thinking about his former girlfriend, Dean and I exchanged a look, sharing a silent message which said: Quick! Change the subject!

"Alright, so, this killer truck-." Dean said in a cheery tone.

Sam cut him off with with a laugh, "I miss conversations that didn't start with "this killer truck:." He smiled.

Dean nodded and chuckled, but it sounded a little forced, "Right. Well, this Cyrus guy..." He trailed off and Sam and I looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah?" I tilted my head, rubbing my eyes a little tiredly, feeling drained after all that had transpired recently.

"He was... evil on a level that infected even his truck, and when he died, the swamp became his tomb. The spirit was dormant for forty years." He continued. I nodded as I followed on his words, suddenly thinking about the wonderfully ordinary idea of something so simple and comforting as a bed.

"So what woke it up?" I asked as I stifled an unexpected yawn.

"The construction on his house — or the deconstruction?" Dean shrugged.

"Right," Sam nodded in agreement, "Demolition or remodelling can awaken spirits – make them restless. Like that theatre case we did years ago in Illinois."

"Yeah. And the guy who tears down the family homestead, Harold Todd, is the same guy that kept Cyrus' murder quiet and unsolved." Dean finished.

"So, now his spirit has awakened, and out for blood." I pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess," Dean nodded, "Who knows what the ghosts are thinking, anyway?"

Sam sighed, "You know we're gonna have to dredge that body up from the swamp, right?" Dean smiled falsely at his brother and Sam visibly drooped, "Aw, man."

"Swamps and corpses, my life is beyond glamorous." I sighed.

Dean chuckled and the boys jumped off the car, his arm wrapping around my waist when he was close enough, "You said it."

I smiled up at him, but felt a twinge of sadness and nostalgia: I had used that line back in my old world, and previous memories came rushing up and brimmed in my mind. "Hey." A voice from behind us made the three of us turn, it was Cassie. She had managed to change in an even tighter and low cut top in the short time we had been outside, just the sight of her irritated me now, and all my sadness evaporated along with my smile. "She's asleep, so now what?" Cassie asked.

"You're gonna stay put and look after her, we're gonna go deal with Cyrus." Dean told her.

"And don't leave the house." I added, Cassie's gaze switched from Dean to me and her eyes hardened instantly. I untangled myself from Dean and stalked slowly towards her, "Well, you can leave your house if you really want," I said lightly, "But we won't always be around to save you." My voice undertook to a more clipped and snarky tone, Cassie noticed it and her eyes narrowed like a cat's.

"Well I don't know about that, Dean's pretty handy in a tight spot." Cassie replied, a knowing smile spread across her features.

I snapped.

My hand flashed out like a snake, my palm aiming for the underside of her stupid jaw. Before it met it's target someone grabbed it, I turned to glare at Sam, who had one of his giant hands wrapped around my wrist, "Steph, don't!" Sam hissed, pulling me away from Cassie forcefully.

"Sam, I swear she's asking for it." I growled, glaring daggers at Cassie.

"Let it go, ok?" Sam murmured, I took a few deep breaths and calmed down, "Good? Right, now apologise to Cassie." He ordered.

I shook my head stubbornly, "Not a chance."

"Stephanie." Sam's tone had a harsh, authoritative edge to it.

"Sam." I replied, giving him a look. I looked at Dean over his shoulder, realising he hadn't said a word during the entire exchange.

After a long, drawn out moment Sam exhaled deeply, "Fine. Cassie, I'm really sorry about Steph's behaviour, but I also think you owe her an apology too." He released my hand and crossed his arms.

Cassie let out a pained sigh, "Sorry." She muttered.

"See? Isn't that just so much better?" Sam raised an eyebrow as he looked from me to Cassie.

"Go to hell, Sam." I muttered under my breath, but he didn't hear.

Instead, Sam nodded, satisfied, "Right, now that's over and done with. I think it's time we leave." He turned and got in the car without another word, I followed behind him and didn't look at either Cassie or Dean as I got into the vehicle and slid into my customary seat behind Sam.

"Sam, I-," I sighed deeply, swallowing my pride, "I'm sorry, ok? I'm just really tired and Cassie hasn't exactly been the easiest person to get along with, but I didn't really want to hurt her."

The younger Winchester was quiet for a moment as he stared out the window with a thoughtful expression on his features, "You know," He said, breaking the silence as he finally turned around, "You could've just said that outside."

I looked away, "I know."

"Then why didn't you?" He asked.

"Because sometimes it is easier to be hated by everyone rather than swallow your pride." I said softly, turning my attention to the corner of my jacket. Sam stayed quiet as I yawned and leant against the chair, closing my eyes and resting my head against the headrest.

"Steph?" Sam asked after a moment's silence.

I kept my eyes shut, "Mmm?"

"Do you think you'll ever get back to your real home?" Sam asked.

My eyes snapped open and I stared at Sam, outside you could hear Dean and Cassie's muffled tones, "I think my old life is just a memory." I admitted quietly.

Sam looked away and then looked back at me, "If there was an opportunity for you to go home... Would you take it?" He asked.

I frowned: Sam was asking a very difficult question, "I, er... Sam... You know I care for you and Dean – but I was just dropped here unexpectedly, you know..." I trailed off as I saw Sam's eyes widen by a fraction, "But now I've gotten to know you both... Sam. I just – I don't know." I finished, unable to continue.

Sam nodded slowly, but didn't reply. The driver's door opened and Dean stepped into the car, "So, we gonna go dredge a swamp, or what?" He smiled, the tension lifting as it lit up his features.

The swamp was on the corner of the land Mayor Todd had been in the middle of demolishing and constructing, even though the Mayor had died this week, the local council hadn't yet come to a decision whether to continue the build or freeze everything, so the tools and machinery had just been left out for anyone to use. Anyone like, say, Dean, Sam and I. Dean hot wired the truck and drove it as near to the swamp's edge as possible, whilst Sam and attached a winch to the front grill and stepped back. "Are you sure this will work?" Sam called to his brother as we both eyed the winch with uncertainty.

Dean waved a hand, "Oh sure it'll work. Besides, I've used one of these a _hundred _times." He patted the steering wheel with an air of confidence, whilst Sam and I exchanged a hesitant look. Dean lowered the dredge into the swamp, Sam and I watched on in silence as Dean manouvered the machinery.

After three minutes I cleared my throat, "Uh, Dean?" I asked.

Dean's expression was set in a frown of concentration, "Yeah?"

"Don't you want my to, uh, try with the air?" I offered.

The elder Winchester shook his head stubbornly, "No, I can do this."

"Ok then." I sighed and glanced at Sam.

"Wanna place bets?" Sam asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "With what money?"

Sam sighed, "Right yeah, forget this job includes having no income whatsoever."

I gave the younger Winchster a small smile, "We could bet with other things, what do you have in your pocket right now?"

"Uhh," Sam dug in his pockets, "A cheap phone and an old tissue, you?"

I put my hand in my jacket pockets, "A cheap broken phone and a," I bought out something delicate and held it to the light, "...On second thoughts I'm gonna keep these." I smiled, realising what they were.

Sam frowned, "Why, what are they?"

"They're healing herbs, like a natural anaesthetic. Keeps the pain away if you're shot or something. I must have had them in preparation of going up against someone." I explained.

"Who?"

"Uhh, before I was put here my partner and I were trying to stop this thing from happening. Something was giving normal non-magic people magic—and not just a little a little, vast amounts were being given to them. There were these four teenagers, and they were driven mad with the amount of power they had, and were killing innocent people, and there's not always time to go to a medic and get checked out, so I carried around these herbs in case we fought them and I got badly injured." I continued, putting the herbs away and clicking my fingers and generating a spark, I caught it and allowed it to grow, the warm amber glow lit up Sam's face in the dark.

"You must really miss them." Sam murmured, staring at the flame in my palm.

"Who?"

"Everyone." Sam shrugged, "Your parents, your partner, friends..." He trailed off and paid attention to something over my shoulder, I turned to see a dirty, rusting old black truck, covered in debris and decaying plants from the stagnant water.

"See?" Dean said in a triumphant tone as he jumped down from the machine, "Told you I had it handled."

"We'll give you a gold star when we get home, then." I drawled.

Sam laughed and held up the salt and some petrol, "Right, let's do this."

The three of us divided up and crept around different sides of the car, looking for the signs of a body inside. Once we were satisfied nothing would jump out at us once we opened the door, we met at the driver's door. Dean cautiously opened the door and eased it open, it swung stiffly and jerked to a half-open stop. We peered inside and found the body of Cyrus Dorian, his body still decomposing. "Oh, gross." Dean wrinkled his nose in disgust at the smell.

"Uh-huh." I nodded, stepping back to allow Sam a better view, "Carry him out and lay him on the grass, then we can light him up."

The boys groaned as the eased the body out of the car and carried it out of the vehicle, "I don't see why you're not helping." Dean complained.

I smirked, "I believe it's called _man_ual labour for a reason, guys."

"Whatever." Sam frowned as the boys lowered the corpse onto the cold grassy floor.

Sam poured salt over Cyrus' rotting body whilst Dean simultaneously poured petrol over it, then I stepped over with a flame in hand, I hovered over the body with my hand held out. "What's wrong?" Dean asked.

I paused, "I'm trying to think of something to say."

Dean shrugged, "How about, see you in hell, bitch?" He offered.

Sam frowned at his brother, "Well, that's dumb."

"Good enough." I dropped the flame and the corpse erupted into a brilliant fire. Behind us, an engine sounded and we turned to see the truck roaring into life, only one headlight shone brightly, whilst the other vainly held a dim glow against the gloom.

"Well, goddamn." Dean breathed as the three of us stood staring at the vehicle.

"So, burning the body had no effect on that thing?" Sam asked, indicating towards the truck as it stood, almost glaring at us in the dark as we stood beside Cyrus' burning body.

"Sure it did – now it's really pissed." A ghost of a smile played on Dean's lips.

I rolled my eyes, "But I thought we just got rid of Cyrus' ghost?"

"Apparently not the part that's fused with the truck." Dean shrugged and nodded his head towards the imposing black monster-vehicle as it's engine gave a guttural growl. The elder Winchester suddenly pulled me in for a kiss and then walked towards his car.

Sam and I frowned, "Where are you going?" Sam asked.

Dean reached the car and gave us a mischievous smirk, one that I had come to adore so much, "I'm going for a little ride."

"What?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"I'm gonna lead that thing away," Dean pointed towards the truck, it had turned away from us and had it's headlights on Dean, watching him almost expectantly, "That rusted piece of shit – you two have gotta burn it."

"How the hell are we supposed to burn a truck, Dean?" Sam protested.

"I don't know, figure something out." Dean opened the trunk and tossed us a bag of objects, presumably weapons, and Sam caught them. I glanced at the truck, and made a quick decision. I took off running and cleared the distance between Dean and I in record time, I reached him and he frowned, "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like, genius? I'm coming with you." I rolled my eyes, pulling on the collar of his shirt and kissing him quickly, "And if you say a word about trying to protect me, so help me God, I'll take your gun and shoot you."

Dean smirked and opened the passenger door, "Get in."

Dean floored the vehicle and we exited the field, swerving out onto the road and gunning it along the straight, I turned around in my seat and bit my lip, "It's out the field and coming for us, Dean." I warned him.

Dean's eyes were glued to the road but he gave a small nod, "I know."

"Do we have a plan?"

"Nope." Dean said, popping the 'p'.

I stared at Dean for a moment, my mind going down through the possible outcomes – most of them led to one certain thing. Instead I smiled, "Sounds good." I replied, Dean smiled back and pushed his foot down harder on the pedal, the car's speedometer slowly increased, when I turned to check on the truck my smile fell. It was closer than ever before.

After a few more minutes, I could see cracks appearing in Dean's bravado, the next time he gave me a confident smile, I could see it was strained. His phone was on the back seat, I gestured and it flew into my awaiting palm. I flipped it open and dialled a number, "Hey you gotta give me a minute." Sam answered.

"Uh, yeah. Thing is, Sam, we don't exactly have a minute." I replied, "Hang on." I moved the phone from my ear and tapped a button so it was on speaker phone.

"What are we doing, Sammy?" Dean asked, his tone slightly stressed.

"Uh... Let me get back to you." Sam answered, then the call cut off.

I sighed as I looked in the mirror to see the position of the car, "Damn." I muttered, and Dean's eyes flickered up to the mirror.

He scoffed in annoyance, "Screw this." Suddenly, Dean jerked the steering wheel and the car squealed and turned a sharp left, shooting through a gap in the hedges of a field. I smiled when I saw the gap was too small for the huge truck, then the truck burst carelessly through the hedge and aimed behind us, the vehicle giving an incredible amount of speed and nearing the back of Dean's car.

Dean's phone rang once more once we were back on the deserted road, I picked up immediately and kept Sam on speaker phone again, "Alright, guys?"

"This better be good!" Dean snapped.

"Where are you?" Sam asked, keeping his tone calm.

"We're in the middle of nowhere, with a killer truck on our ass! It's like it knows exactly where I'm gonna drive to nest!" The elder Winchester replied, anger and irritation dominating his voice.

"Guys, guys, listen to me, it's important. I have to know exactly where you are." Sam responded.

I squinted out the car window at the trees and fields that flew past at the break-neck speed we were going at, we suddenly passed a sign, "Decatur Road." I said.

"That's two miles off the highway, Sam." Dean added.

"Ok, are you headed east?" Sam asked.

I shrugged whilst Dean sighed, "Yes!" The truck slammed into the rear of the car, and we were thrown forward, my head slammed into the dashboard and stars burst behind my eyes, the phone clattered to the floor. "Son of a bitch." Dean growled, "Steph, can you hear me?"

I blinked, trying to clear away the haziness and winced at the buzz in my ears, "Yeah." I croaked. Through the confusing fog I saw Dean's shape stoop to pick up something, the small bright light told me it was the phone.

"Ok, uh, turn right. Up ahead, turn right." Sam instructed, Dean jerked the car to the right and I groaned as my head rapped against the window.

Dean glanced at me, "Sorry."

"You guys make the turn?" Sam piped up.

Dean nodded whilst I forced myself to check the mirror to see where the truck was, it had followed our right-hand turn, "Yeah, we made the turn! You're gonna need to move this think along a little fast!" Dean shouted.

"Alright, see the road up ahead?" Sam asked.

"No!... Wait – yes, I see it!" Dean nodded, even though Sam couldn't see.

"Ok, turn left." Sam told him.

"Dean." I whispered, he looked at me and I pointed out his window, the truck was beside us, neck and neck.

"Perfect." Dean groaned and slowed the car down slightly, once the truck had overtaken he veered left and moved onto the other road, "Ok, now what, Sam?" He asked, slightly more relaxed.

"You need to go exactly seven-tenths of a mile and then stop." Sam ordered.

Dean and I did a double-take, "Stop?" I repeated in a doubtful tone.

"Exactly seven-tenths, guys." Sam repeated.

Dean sighed, "Watch the meter for me." He told me, then began to drive slowly forward, the truck completely out of sight, I counted as the meter slowly went up.

"Now." I said. Dean nodded and slammed on the brakes, the car jolted to a screeching stop. The black truck materialized at the end of the road in front of us, and our breathing quietened.

"Guys, you still there?" Sam's voice broke through the silence in the dark.

"Yeah." Dean answered.

"What's happening?" Sam asked.

"It's just... staring at us at the end of the road, what do we do?" I replied.

"Just what you two are doing. Bringing it to you." Sam clarified, I glanced at Dean and didn't bother to reply. At the end of the road, the black nightmare-car began speeding towards us, the seconds began to drag out as it neared.

"Come on, come on." Dean muttered, the car drew closer to us at an alarming rate, and I shut my eyes and prepared for impact.

But it didn't come.

"Hey, you guys still there?" Sam's voice made me open my eyes, I stared at the empty road and frowned.

"Where'd it go?" I asked.

"You're where the church was." Sam replied.

Dean and I exchanged a confused glance, "What church?" He asked.

"The one Cyrus burned down, when he murdered all those kids." The younger Winchester answered.

I peered out Dean's window at the old, abandoned rubble, "There's not much left of it." I commented.

"Yeah, but church ground is hallowed ground, whether the church is still there or not. Evil spirits can't cross over hallowed ground, sometimes they're destroyed. So, I figured maybe that would get rid of it." Sam explained.

Dean and I sat in silence for a few moments, absorbing what Sam had just said.

"Maybe?" Dean exploded, "Maybe?! What if you were wrong, Sam?" He demanded.

"Huh. Honestly, that thought hadn't occurred to me." Sam replied, I groaned and leant my head on the headrest and shut my eyes.

"Bastard." I hissed.

Sam laughed and was then abruptly cut off, I didn't bother to reopen my eyes as Dean turned back on the car engine, "'Well, that honestly didn't occur to me'." Dean imitated his brother, "I'm gonna kill him."

Sam and I leant on the bonnet of the car the next morning at the docks as Dean and Cassie walked slowly towards us in deep conversation. "I wonder what they're talking about." I muttered.

Sam shrugged, "Dunno." He answered shortly, but there was something in his eyes that I couldn't decipher. I brushed it off and stood up from the car as Dean and Cassie neared, I gave him a big smile as I approached them, Dean's arm wrapped around my waist and he gave me a quick kiss, when we turned to his ex I saw a pain cloud her dark eyes.

"Hey, Cassie?" Cassie looked up at me, "I'm sorry for the last time we spoke, it was pretty rude of me to do that, and you didn't deserve it."

Cassie gave me her first genuine smile, although it was tiny, "Yeah, I'm sorry too, Stephanie. What I said was totally out of order."

I took a long look at Cassie, quietly contemplating whether to smash her nose in or forget it, then my brain decided and my shoulders shrugged, "Bygones?"

She nodded, "Bygones."

Dean grinned, "Well, now that's sorted, we gotta get going."

Cassie looked at him and they shared a look, she looked like she was contemplating something herself, and turned to me and opened her mouth, then thought better of it and shut it, "It was nice seeing you again, Dean." She gave Dean her best sultry smile and I rolled my eyes.

The elder Winchester chuckled, "Yeah, you too, Cas." He hugged her briefly and then took my hand and led me towards the car where Sam was sat, watching the exchange thoughtfully, I wondered what he was thinking about.

He waved to Cassie and looked at us, "We good to go?" He asked.

I nodded, "Yep, let's go."

_Sam's P.O.V_

I was driving for once, and after much protest, Stephanie had eventually fallen into a much needed sleep in the back, her head was leant against the window, her jacket layed out across her as she slept quietly. "I like her." I suddenly said.

Dean looked at me, "Huh?"

"Steph, I like her." I repeated.

Dean frowned, "What are you trying to say, Sam?"

"Not like that, Dean. I meant I like Steph as in I think she's a good addition to us." I explained.

Dean nodded slowly, "Well, I like her too."

"Yeah, I noticed." I rolled my eyes, "I don't think she's going anywhere soon."

"Well, where can she go?"

"I meant back to her reality, Dean. You must know she misses it." I replied, glancing over to him.

Dean nodded, "I know she does." He said quietly.

"You know what you did with Cassie?" I asked, Dean stiffened in his chair and nodded once, "Are you ever gonna tell her?"

My brother pulled a face, "Probably not." He admitted, I sighed and tapped the steering wheel in annoyance, Dean watched my fingers then rolled his eyes, "What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking: if you do something like that again, one way or another, Steph's gonna find out and when she does, she'll kill you." I replied.

Dean stayed quiet for a moment and pulled out some sunglasses and put them one, "Wake me up when it's my turn to drive." He said, then yawned and slumped in his chair.

**Author's Note: ** **Sorry it took so long to update! I have exams in about 7 weeks and my school have decided to make us stay behind everyday for an extra hour, and then I have to walk home and when I get in I'm just too exhausted to even think about writing. I admit I also had some reluctance to do this chapter because I found it really hard to fit Valkyrie into the story, but hopefully it fits. Tell me what your thoughts on this chapter in your reviews, I know they seem like effort but they really do make my day! You know the drill by now – unless you're a new reader, 10 reviews till an expected update! **

**Oh, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

**-Blue-Eyed AngelGirl **


	14. Chapter 14

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter 14 – Nightmare**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Someone was shaking me awake from my much needed sleep, "Steph. Steph." I stirred and sat up, looking at Dean in confusion.

"Dean, do you have any idea what time it is?" I glared at him in the dark, noting the sky outside, it couldn't have even been dawn.

"I know, I'm sorry. But It's Sam..." Dean trailed off and I clicked my fingers, Sam was on the other side of the room packing our things away, I stretched and stood up, immediately alert.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"We have to go. Right now." Sam replied, throwing me my jacket as he walked out the door with his bag slung on his shoulder.

Dean and I exchanged a glance, "Just... why?" I sighed sadly, casting a miserable glance at my bed as I shrugged on my jacket.

"Beats me." Dean shrugged.

**T**

We found Sam waiting impatiently by the car outside, he rushed us into the car and told Dean to start driving straight to Michigan. As we were driving Sam was talking on the phone to the local police department, his fake badge in his lap, "McReedy. Detective McReedy. Badge number 158, I've got a signal 480 in progress. I need the registered owner of a two door Sedan, Michigan license plate M – F – 6 – 0 – 3 – 7..." There was a pause and I tilted my head as I heard a muffled reply over the phone, "Yeah, ok. Just hurry." Sam lowered the phone from his ear, but he didn't turn off the device.

"Sammy, relax. I'm sure it's just a nightmare." Dean reassured his brother, giving him a sideways glance in the dark.

"Yeah, right." Sam scoffed.

I leant forward in my seat, propping my elbows on either side of the back of Sam's chair, "So, in this dream. What happens exactly? The guy drives home drunk, parks his car in the garage and dies?"

Sam shrugged, "More or less."

"I still think it's just a nightmare." Dean muttered, "Y'know – a normal, everyday, naked-in-class nightmare. This license plate? It won't check out, you'll see." I knew what he was doing: he was trying to convince his brother and I as much as he was trying to convince himself.

"It felt different, guys. Real. Like when I dreamt about our old house. And Jessica." Sam argued, shaking his head stubbornly.

"Yeah, but at least that made some sense. Your dreams about our old house, your girlfriend. This guy in your dream, have you ever seen him before?" The older Winchester challenged.

"No." Sam said quietly and shook his head.

"No. Exactly," Dean repeated firmly, "Why would you have premonitions about some random dude in Michigan?" His tone was getting louder with frustration at the situation.

"Dean." I cautioned softly.

Sam sighed in defeat, "I don't know." A muffled voice suddenly sounded from Sam's lap and he picked the phone back up to his ear, "Yes, I'm here." He answered into the earpiece, shaking away the remnants of his previous tone as he adopted his formal persona. He glared at his brother as he listened to the phone, fumbling for a notepad and pen as he nodded at whatever the person was saying to him, "Jim Miller. Saginaw, Michigan. You have a street address?" There was a pause and Sam scribbled something else down, "Got it. Thanks." He shut off the phone and gave Dean and I a smug glance, "It checks out, how far are we?"

Dean grunted, "From Saginaw? Couple of hours."

I took my elbows off of the back of Sam's seat and leant back in my own, "Good. Glad I didn't get pulled out of bed for nothing." I muttered, casting a lazy glance at the dark lonely road, lit up only by the car's headlights.

**T**

When we eventually cruised to a slow stop outside an average looking house in the middle of a suburban street. Well, it would've been normal if it hadn't have been for the mass of emergency vehicles parked outside, their bright lights flashing and lighting up the dark street. A small crowd of neighbours stood a short distance away from the house, watching on as the paramedics came out with a zipped up body bag on a stretcher. We all turned to each other, Dean and I mirrored looks of concern and disbelief, whilst Sam looked upset and almost a little guilty. "Well," I said, breaking the silence with a quiet voice, "Guess you were right, Sam."

"Yeah. Doesn't make me feel any better, though." The younger Winchester muttered in response.

Dean sighed an opened his door, "Come on, let's go check it out." He stepped out of the car without waiting for a reply, Sam and I followed after him in grim silence. The three of us approached the onlookers quietly, "What happened?" Dean asked a woman standing on the furthest reaches of the crowd, she jumped at our unexpected appearance but turned to us and offered a sad smile.

"Suicide. Unbelievable." The woman explained.

"Did you know them?" I asked, eyeing the paramedics as they carefully wheeled the stretcher up onto the pavement to load into the open ambulance.

"Saw him every Sunday at St. Augustines. He always seemed so... normal," The woman heaved a long, regretful sigh, "I guess you never know what's going on behind closed doors."

"Guess not." Dean murmured in agreement, staring straight ahead at something in the distance.

"How did, ah, how are they saying it happened?" Sam asked.

The woman shrugged, "I heard they found him in the garage, locked inside his car with the engine running."

"Do you know about what time they found him?" The younger Winchester pressed.

"Oh, it just happened about an hour or two ago. His poor family. I can't even imagine what they're going through." The woman replied, tears shining in her eyes.

The door to the house suddenly opened and three figures appeared on the doorstep, I saw a woman crying, her wails of despair piercing through the mournful silence, the woman leant against a middle aged man, turning her face away from the crowd and crying onto his shoulder. Behind them I made out another figure, lingering in the shadows with a distraught expression on his face. I stared at the broken family, wondering if my parents had noticed the subtle differences between the reflection and I. I don't know why, but I was pretty convinced Alice had noticed that there were two versions of me, to anyone else it sounder preposterous – a fantasy I had fabricated in the hopes of one day returning home.

I was suddenly jolted out of my daydream by someone gently shaking my arm, I turned to see Dean, he nodded his head and I followed the gesture to see he was signalling to his brother. Sam was leaning against Dean's car with an intense grimace on his features. Dean and I exchanged a concerned look and approached him, sitting next to him on the car.

"Sam, we got here as fast as we could." I tried to comfort the younger Winchester, but he shook his head.

"Not fast enough. It doesn't make any sense, guys. I mean, why would I even have these premonitions if there wasn't a chance I could stop them from happening?" He asked in a hopeless tone.

I stayed silent, unsure how to respond.

"So what do you think killed him?" Sam asked, changing the subject with a sigh of dejection.

Dean shrugged, "Maybe the guy just killed himself? Maybe there's nothing supernatural going on at all."

His brother shook his head, "I'm telling you, I watched it happen. He was murdered by something, guys. I watched it ttrap him in the garage."

"Well, what was it? A, uh, spirit, poltergeist, what?" I pressed.

"I don't know what it was," Sam snapped, suddenly sounding stressed, "I don't know why I'm having these dreams, and I don't know what's happening to me."

Dean and I stared at Sam for a long, overdrawn moment, completely taken aback and alarmed at his sudden loss of composure.

The younger Winchester frowned at us, "What?"

"Nothing. We're just a little concerned for you, Sam." I shrugged innocently, my voice gentler than before.

"Well, don't look at me like that!" He glared, his voice raising and making me want to wince, but my pride refused to show anything on face and maintained my strong masquerade.

"I'm not looking at you like anything, Sam." I replied firmly, keeping my voice even.

"Though I gotta say," Dean piped up, "You _do _look like crap."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Nice. Thanks."

Dean jumped off the bonnet of his beloved car and moved to his customary driver side, "Come on, let's just pick this up in the morning. We'll check out the house and talk to the family."

I scoffed and gave him a doubtful look, "Dean, you saw them," I pointed to the distraught family crying on the porch, "They're devastated. They're not going to want to talk to us."

"Yeah, you're right. But I think I know who they will talk to." Dean replied.

Sam and I exchanged a confused frown, "Who?" We asked simultaneously.

Dean merely smirked in response.

**T**

We looked ridiculous.

Dean had forced me to abandon my trousers, my tunic and my beloved jacket and step into another black dress – this one longer than my FBI dress, it came down and stopped at my knees and was black and simple, tight just enough to show my figure. I fiddled with the simple silver cross that Dean had given to me that morning and exchanged a look with Sam.

The boys had gone all out. They had dressed like priests in black suits, Sam had his hair slicked back neatly and a nervous expression on his features. Dean, however, had retained his usual boyish charm and confidence as he knocked on the door of the house.

Sam sighed deeply as we waited, "This has gotta be a new low for us."

Dean stole a smirk at us before resuming his solemn pose as someone opened the door, he peered suspiciously at us. Dean cleared his throat, "Good afternoon. I'm Father Simmons, this is Father Frehley and Sister Stanley. We're new junior priests over at St. Augustines, may we come in?" He asked politely, the man nodded and stepped aside to let us in. "Thanks." Dean smiled as he entered.

"We're very sorry for your loss." I added.

"It's in difficult times like these when the Lord's guidance is most needed." Sam added.

The man held up his hand, silencing us, "Look, you wanna pitch your whole 'Lord has a plan' thing? Fine. Just don't pitch it to me. My brother's dead." He said coldly.

"Roger!" A sharp voice made us all turn, "Please, have some manners." I recognised the owner of the voice as the woman crying on the doorstep – Mrs. Miller... or Ms. Miller now.

"Excuse me." Roger said, moving out the room.

Ms. Miller approached us with a warm, but tired smile on her face, "I'm sorry about my brother in law. He's – he's just so upset about Jim's death," The widow explained apologetically, "Would you like some coffee?"

"That would be great." Dean smiled.

**T**

Ms. Miller led us into the lounge, away from the mourners who were busy stacking an obscene amount of cooked casseroles on any space available. Once we were all seated she sighed and tied her hair up, with her hair out of her face I could really see how she wasn't coping, her eyes were laden with bags and dark marks. "It was wonderful of you three to stop by. The support of the church means so much to us right now."

"Of course." I gave the woman a warm smile.

"After all," Dean piped up, "We are all God's children."

Ms. Miller frowned and moved off the couch to another room, when she left Dean immediately leaned forward in his chair and took a few of the cocktail sausages that had been laid out neatly on a pristine white plate, I rolled my eyes whilst he chewed contentedly, Sam shook his and scoffed.

Dean frowned, "What?"

"Just... tone it down a little bit, _Father_." Sam replied sarcastically, I snickered a little but cleared my throat when Ms. Miller returned.

"So, uh, Ms. Miller, did your husband have a history of depression?" I asked, desperately trying to stay in the role of 'faith-healer', or, whatever.

Ms. Miller's eyes widened and she shook her head, "Nothing like that," She suddenly started welling up, "We had our ups and downs liked everyone but we were _happy_," Her voice broke and her shoulders started shaking uncontrollably, "I just don't understand... how Jim could do something like this." She wailed and sobbed, I cast an alarmed glance at Dean and ever so slightly shook my head – I could _not _deal with a crying widow, and the boys knew it.

Sam got up and sat on the sofa next to Ms. Miller, "I'm so sorry you had to find him like that." He consoled.

Ms. Miller sniffed and gestured to the room behind her, "Actually, our son Max, he was the one who found him."

"Do you mind if I go talk to him?" Sam asked.

"Oh, thank you Father." The widow sighed gratefully, Sam nodded and got up from the sofa and headed towards the room where Max was, closing the door behind him.

"Ms. Miller," I broke the silence and leant forward in my chair, "You have a lovely home. How long have you lived here?"

"We moved in about five years ago." Ms. Miller replied, her eyes still teary.

"The only problem with these old houses is the condition, I bet you have all kind of set-backs." Dean added.

The older woman frowned, "Like what?"

"Well," I exchanged a glance with Dean, "You know, weird leaks, electrical shortages, odd unsettling noises at night." I listed, Dean nodded along with me, "That kind of thing."

"No, nothing like that." Ms. Miller shook her head, "It's been perfect."

"Huh. May I use your restroom?" Dean asked.

"Oh sure, it's just up the stairs." The lady nodded. Dean rose from his seat, taking yet another cocktail sausage as he did so, I edged a polite smile at Ms. Miller as Dean left the room. "You have a lovely accent, Sister Stanley, where is it from?" The widow asked.

"Oh, I umm, I was born and raised in a town near Dublin. I moved here a while ago and St., uh, Augustines." The lie came easily, and Ms. Miller nodded.

"Dublin sounds lovely, I've always wanted to visit it. Jim and I always planned on going there but we just never..." She trailed off and tried to stifle a sob.

"I'm, uh, I'm gonna go get a, uh, a drink." I smiled awkwardly and stood up from my chair quickly.

**T**

I found the stairs and walked up them quickly, finding the boys on the empty landing, Dean held a device in his hand, and I quickly recognised it as an infer-red thermal scanner – this one wasn't homemade. "Did you guys find anything?" I asked as I approached them.

"Nope." Sam shook his head whilst Dean shrugged hopelessly.

I sighed, "Great, just great. Let's get out of here, I swear I'm gonna hit someone if I stay in this dress any longer."

**T**

Dean was sat on one of the motel beds cleaning his weapons whilst I was pacing the room. Bored. Sam had opted to go out and research to find out everything and anything, leaving Dean and I alone, with Dean with his weapons and me with nothing. I sighed irritably and shrugged out of my beloved jacket and threw it onto the nearest bed. I sighed again and sat on the bed and crossed my legs. Then I uncrossed them. And crossed them again. And again. And ag-

"Steph." Dean said without looking up.

"Sorry." I replied sulkily.

The door opened and Sam entered, I sighed gratefully at his appearance, "Oh thank God. Did you find anything?"

"A whole lotta nothing. Nothing bad has happened in the Miller house since it was built." Sam replied.

"What about the land?" Dean asked.

Sam sat on the bed next to me, "No grave yards, battle fields, tribal lands or any other kind of atrocity on or near the property."

"Hey man, I told you, I searched the house up and down. No cold spots, sulphur scent. Nada." The older Winchester replied.

"Huh. And the family said everything was normal?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, Ms. Miller said it was all fine." I shrugged.

"Well, if there _was _a demon or a poltergeist in there, don't you think somebody would have noticed something? I used the infer-red thermal scanner, guys, and there was nothing." Dean said.

"So what, you think Jim Miller killed himself and my dream was just some sorta... freakish coincidence?" Sam frowned.

Dean yawned, "I dunno. I'm pretty sure there's nothing supernatural about that house."

Sam rubbed his temples with one of his huge, spade-like hands, "Yeah. Well, maybe it has nothing to do with the house," He paused and took a deep breath, and held his head in his hands, "Maybe it's just – it's just... Gosh," He kneaded his forehead with his knuckles, I glanced at Dean and frowned slightly, "... Maybe it's connected to Jim in some other way?" He finished in a pained voice.

"What's wrong with you?" Dean asked.

Sam suddenly cried out and fell to the floor, clutching his head with his eyes screwed shut, "My head." He managed.

I exchanged an alarmed glance with Dean and knelt on the floor beside Sam, putting a tentative hand on his broad shoulder, "Sam? Hey, Sammy?" I called to him.

Dean was beside me, both his hands grasping his brother's arms, a stony look of determination oni his features, "Sam? What's going on? Talk to me."

Sam set his eyes on Dean, but his green eyes were cloudy and unfocused. I shook his shoulder carefully and glanced warily at Dean, "What's wrong with him?" I whispered, scared Sam could hear us.

"I don't know." Dean replied.

Sam gasped and Dean and I jumped, "It's happening again," He panted, "Something's gonna kill Roger Miller."

**T**

We were in the exact same positions as we were the night before last: Dean was driving, I was in the back seat and Sam was in the passenger speaking in urgent, professional tones to the local police department. "Roger Miller... Ah, no no, just the address please... Ok, thanks." Sam shut the phone off and turned to Dean, "450 West Grove, Apartment 1120." He said.

Dean nodded, "You ok?" He asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"If you're gonna hurl, I'll pull the car over you know, 'cause the upholstery..." Dean trailed off and in the dark I swear I saw him wince at the thought of his beloved car being ruined.

"I'm fine." Sam replied.

Dean shrugged, "Alright."

Sam glanced at his brother, then his gaze flickered to me in the rear-view mirror and he sighed heavily. I frowned at his movements, "Sam?"

"Guys... I'm scared," The younger Winchester confessed, "It's as if these nightmares weren't bad enough, now I'm seeing things when I'm awake? And these... visions, or whatever, they're getting more intense. And painful." An unsettling quiet shrouded the car, for a long moment no one said or did anything.

"Come on, man, you'll be alright. It'll be fine." Dean assured his brother, but it sounded strained.

"What is it about the Millers? Why am I connected to them, why am I watching them die? Why the hell is this happening to me?" Sam asked, frustration giving a harsh bite to his words.

"I don't know Sam but we'll figure it out." I put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but the gesture seemed stale.

"Yeah, we've faced the unexplainable every day. This is just another thing." Dean added quickly.

Sam shook his head in irritation, "No. It's never been us, It's never been in the family like this," He argued, the turned his whole body so he could face us, "Tell me the truth, both of you: don't tell me this doesn't freak you out." He said seriously.

I held Sam's gaze for a long, agonizing minute before dropping my eyes and staring at the ring on my finger, my left hand spun it round my finger nervously, but it was the only clue I gave away about what I was thinking.

I _was _freaked out, this was... huge... but it didn't come as a complete shock to me. After all, my history with the supernatural wasn't exactly a clean record – nothing had been since I was eleven to be honest. I was mostly upset that of all the people that this had to happen to it had to happen to Sam. I was in love with Dean, but I had formed a deep attachment with his brother – Sam looked out for me and we always had a good laugh with one another, he was probably one of the nicest guys I had ever met and didn't deserve anything bad to happen to him.

Dean, however, stared straight ahead and ignored his brother and I, "This doesn't freak me out." He said plainly, his jaw clenched determinedly. Sam stared at Dean for a long moment, a hollow silence descended upon the car.

**T**

We found Roger hurrying towards a block of flats carrying a brown bag of shopping, Dean pulled up and slowed next to him, Sam opened the window and leant out of it, "Hey, Roger!" Sam called.

Roger glanced at us, but kept walking, "What are you people, missionaries? Leave me alone." He dismissed.

"No, wait. Please!" Sam called, but Roger hurried away. I sighed and Dean _tssked _and floored the accelerator, the car raced forward and jumped the pavement to park. As soon as the car halted Sam jumped out and started running towards the flat block, "Hey. Roger. We're trying to help!" Sam shouted, Dean and I exchanged a glance before getting out the car and jogging to catch up with Sam. The younger Winchester ran up to the entrance of the apartment block just as Roger was closing the door, "Please! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Sam tapped on the glass of the door, but Roger rolled his eyes at us.

"I don't want your help." He shook his head and walked away.

"But we're not priests, you gotta listen to us!" Sam protested.

"Roger, you're in danger!" I called to the man's retreating form, but he didn't turn.

"Son of a bitch," Dean swore and looked around, "Come on, come on, there's gotta be another way in there." He muttered.

"Round the back. Come on." I nodded my head in the direction of the back of the building and jogged away. The back entrance was sealed off by a fence, the three of us halted for only a moment as I looked around. Satisfied that there were no bystanders, I snapped my right palm and the gate burst off it's hinges and clattered to the ground as we shot past it. The fire escape was a four floor metal stair case and a ladder. We all jumped up the first three and pelted up the stairs two at a time. Once we were on the third floor we heard the sound of something slamming shut and a loud, unmistakable squelching noise. Sam froze but Dean and I kept going. When we reached the final floor I gasped when I saw the window was drenched in a bright red, I peered below and saw a head laying in the flower bed. Roger's head.

"Oh, that's gross." I blanched and shivered. Footsteps sounded behind us and we turned to see Sam joining us, we stood there in silence until Dean pulled a two white cloths and threw them to Sam and I.

"Start wiping down your fingerprints, we don't want the cops to know we were here," I took one side and left Sam to do the other. "Come on!" Dean shook his brother out of his trance before using his own cloth to prise open the window carefully, "I'm gonna take a look inside." He said, I touched Sam's arm gently before continuing wiping down my side.

**T**

"I'm telling you. There was nothing in there. No signs either, just like the Miller's house." Dean explained to us, we were driving back from the apartment block on our way to the town centre.

"I saw something, in the vision. Like," Sam's brow furrowed as he concentrated, "A dark shape. Something was... something was stalking Roger."

I leant forward in my chair, "Well whatever it was, are you sure it's not connected to their house?" I asked.

"No, it's connected to the family themselves. So what do you think, Dean, like a vengeful spirit?" Sam replied.

Dean shrugged, "Well yeah, there's been a few that have been known to latch onto families, follow them for years."

"Angiak, err, Banshees." Sam listed.

"So what, you think Roger and Jim Miller got involved in something heavy, something curse worthy?" I guessed.

"Yeah. And now that something is out for revenge. And the men in their family are dying." Sam nodded and then tilted his head, "Hey, you think Max is in danger?" He suddenly asked.

Dean sighed, "Let's figure it out before he is."

"Well, I know one thing I have in common with these people." Sam said nonchalantly.

Dean looked away from the windscreen and glanced at his brother, "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Both our families are cursed." Sam answered.

There was a break in the conversation where Dean's eyes flickered up to me in the rear view mirror for a split second, "Our family's not cursed!" Dean protested with a scoff, although it sounded a little forced, "We just... had our dark spots."

"Our spots are... pretty dark." Sam retorted.

"You're... dark." Dean faltered. I rolled my eyes and slumped in the back seat resignedly.

**T**

The next morning we visited the Miller House feigning as priests, Max let us in politely, "My Mum's resting, she's pretty wrecked." He explained as we entered the house.

"Of course." I smiled.

"All these people kept coming with, like, casseroles? I finally had to tell them to go away. You know, 'cause nothing says I'm sorry like a tuna casserole." Max scoffed and Sam smiled absent-mindedly, the boy gestured to the lounge and we all took seats.

"How're you holding up?" Sam asked gently.

Max shrugged, much to my surprise, "Ok."

"I understand your Dad and your Uncle were close, Max." I leant forward and clasped my hands.

Max shrugged again, "Yeah, I guess. I mean, they were brothers. They used to hang out all the time when I was little."

Sam frowned, "But not lately much?" He inquired.

The boy shook his head, "No, it's not that. It's just... we used to be neighbours when I was a kid - and we lived across town in this house. Uncle Roger lived next door, so he was over all the time." He explained.

"Right. So how was it in _that _house when you were a kid." Sam asked.

"It was fine. Why?" Max replied.

"All good memories? Do you remember anything unusual? Something involving your Father and your Uncle maybe?" Dean piped up.

Max shook his head, "What do you... Why do you ask?"

"Just a question." I shrugged innocently.

Max was quiet for a few seconds, "No, there was nothing. We were totally normal. Happy?"

Dean nodded slowly, "Good. That's good. Well, you must be exhausted. We should take off."

I nodded in agreement, and Sam glanced at us, "Right," He turned back to Max, "Thanks."

**T**

Our next stop was the neighbourhood where the Miller's used to live, we had switched our 'priest' look for our usual attire and were stood in the middle of the garden path of a house, talking to the resident. "Have you lived in the neighbourhood for very long?" I asked.

"Yeah, almost twenty years now. It's nice and quiet," He studied Dean and I, and noted how close we were stood next to eachother, "Are you two looking to buy?" He asked.

"No, no. Nothing like that," I chuckled, "We were actually wondering if you might recall a family that used to live right there, across the street."

"They're called the Millers? They may have had a little boy called Max." Dean added.

The man took off his hat, "Yeah, I remember. The brother had the place next door. So, uh, what's this about – is that poor kid ok?" He asked.

The three of us frowned, "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, in my life I've never seen a child treated like that, I mean – I'd hear Mr. Miller yelling and throwing things clear across the street, he was a mean drunk. He used to beat the tar outta Max. He got, uh bruises, cuts, grazes... broke his arm two times that I know of." The man explained, he sighed and put his hat on again.

"And this was going on regularly?" Sam's frown deepened.

"Practically every day," The man nodded, "In fact that thug brother of his was just as likely to take a swing at the boy – but the worst part was the stepmother. She'd just stand there, checked it out, not even lifting a finger to protect him," He sighed again, "Hell, I must've called the police seven or eight times. Never did any good, though."

"What do you mean, step-mother?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. I think his real mother died. Some sort of... accident. Uh, car accident I think." He nodded.

"Huh." I said, glancing at Dean.

"Are you ok there?" The man suddenly asked, I frowned and saw he was looking at someone else. Sam had his hand held to his forehead and his features were fixed in a pained grimace.

"Uh, yeah." Sam nodded, but he winced in doing so.

Dean and I exchanged a glance, he held an arm out to his brother and looked back at the man, "Look, thank you for your time." He said.

"Yeah, thank you." Sam added in a pained voice. I gave him a parting smile and went on Sam's other side to help support him. "God." Sam choked out painfully. He dropped a little and almost took Dean and I with him.

"Shit." I exclaimed, casting a worried look at Dean.

"Come on, let's get him to the car." Dean said, taking the majority of Sam's weight from me.

**T**

Sam came to a few minutes after we had put him in the car, "Max is doing it. Everything I've been seeing." He said once he woke.

"And you're sure about this?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I saw him." Sam nodded.

"How's he doing it all, Sam?" I piped up.

"I don't know. Like, telekinesis I guess." Sam answered.

"So he's psychic – a spoon bender?" Dean said.

Sam nodded, "I didn't even realise it but this whole time he was there. He was outside the garage when his Dad died, he was in the apartment when his Uncle died. These visions, this whole time... I wasn't connecting to the Millers – I was connecting to Max! The thing is: I don't get why, guys. I guess... because we're so alike?" He explained.

I frowned, "Sam that's crazy, what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, the dude's nothing like you." Dean added.

"We both have psychic abilities," Sam argued, "We both..." He trailed off.

"Both what? Sam, this Max guy is a monster, he's already killed two people, now he's gunning for a third." Dean interrupted sternly.

"Well, with what he went through. The beatings, to want revenge on those people? I'm sorry, I hate to say it, but it's not that insane." Sam defended.

"Yeah, but it doesn't justify murdering your entire family!" Dean finally shouted.

"Dean..." I cautioned quietly.

Dean scoffed and pulled the car over, I recognised it to be the Miller house, "He's no different from anything else we've hunted, alright? We gotta end him."

Sam and I looked at him in disbelief, "We're not going to kill Max." I said.

"Oh yeah, Steph? Then what: hand him over to the cops and say "Lock him up, Officer; he kills with the power of his mind"?" He raised a doubtful eyebrow at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Oh and I suppose killing him is the best way to handle this, right?" I shot back, my tone drenched with sarcasm.

"It's a solution," Dean shrugged, "And it's the best we have to deal with the situation."

"Steph," Sam cut me off before our argument could escalate, "Forget it, Dean. It's not happening." He said quietly.

Dean exhaled and turned off the engine, his anger dying as the engine faded, "Sam..."

"Dean. He's a person. We can talk to him," Sam urged, his older brother looked away with his jaw clenched, "Hey, promise me you'll follow my lead with this one."

Dean stayed quiet for a long time, "Alright, fine. But I'm not letting him hurt anybody else." He opened the glove compartment and pulled something out, I knew exactly what it was when he clicked it open.

**T**

We wasted no time in bursting through the front door to the Miller House, we found Max in the kitchen stood with his step-mother, the atmosphere felt heavy and weighed down with tension. Ms. Miller and Max looked shocked at our sudden entrance, "Fathers? Sister?" Ms. Miller frowned at us.

"What are you doing here?" Max demanded.

Dean suddenly smiled wryly, "Uhhh, sorry to interrupt."

"Max, can we, uh, can we talk to you outside for just one second?" Sam asked politely, gesturing to the door.

Max narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "About what?"

"It's – it's private," I smiled thinly, "I wouldn't want to bother your mother with it." I switched my gaze to Ms. Miller, "We won't be long at all, I promise."

Max glanced at his step-mother, then he turned back to me, "Ok." He agreed, although his tone sounded reluctant. I nodded in thanks and turned back to the door, catching eyes with the boys as I did so, Dean reached for the door and grasped the handle, pulling it open. He turned and gave Max a friendly, convincing smile. I felt the air shift wildly and the door was suddenly yanked from Dean's grip and slammed shut, the wooden blinds covering the windows all snapped shut as we turned back to Max.

"You're not priests!" Max exclaimed, backing away, I shared an alarmed glance with Dean and he shrugged and pulled his gun out. Before he could do anything with it, Max used his power to pull it away, it slid across the floor and found Max's grip, he flipped the safety off and trained it on the three of us.

"Max, what's happening?" Ms. Miller cried, staring at us with wide eyes.

"Shut up." Max snapped without looking round.

"What are you doing?" She said, running a hand through her light hair. I flinched when the air shifted again, expecting an attack. Instead, Ms. Miller flung backwards, her head connected with the side of the kitchen island and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"I said shut up!" Max shouted, I noticed his hands shaking.

"Max calm down." Sam said quickly, he must have noticed too.

"Who are you people?" Max asked.

"We just wanna talk." Sam answered innocently.

Max scoffed, "Yeah right, that's why you bought this!" He waved the gun in the air, the three of us instinctively ducked out of the way.

Sam held his hands up cautiously, as if he was approaching a wild animal, "That was a mistake, alright?" I glanced at Dean and, despite everything, raised a smug, _I told you so_ eyebrow, "So was lying about who we were. But no more lying, Max, ok? Just please, hear us out." Sam continued.

"About what?" Max asked.

"I saw you do it. I saw you kill your Dad and your Uncle before it happened." Sam admitted. A silence settled around the room.

_Oh, Sam_

"What?" Max faltered.

"I'm having visions, Max. About you." Sam nodded.

Max barked a laugh, "You're crazy."

"So what, you weren't gonna launch a knife at your step-mom," Sam gestured to his right eye, "Right here? Is it _that _hard to believe Max, look what you can do. Max, I was drawn here alright? I think I'm here to help you." Sam nodded to himself, like some kind of self-fulfilment.

Max sniffed loudly, "No one can help me."

"Let me try. We'll just talk. You and me. We'll get Dean, Steph and Alice out of here." Sam reasoned.

"Wait, just hold on there, S-."

"Uh-uh. No way." Dean and I objected simultaneously.

Max frowned and the large, ornate chandelier above us began to shake, the crystals rattled and jingled prettily, "Nobody leaves this house!" Max shouted.

I glanced up at the chandelier, then at Max; if we said the wrong thing it could be disastrous. "And nobody has to, alright? They'll just... they'll just go upstairs."

"Sam we're not leaving you alone with him." Dean said automatically.

"Yes, you are," Sam said without taking his eyes off of Max, "Look, Max, you're in charge here, alright, we all know that. No one's going to do anything that you don't want to do but I'm talking five minutes here, man." His tone was reserved and calm.

"Sam, no. Come on." I shook my head and gave him a look.

Max glanced back to where his unconscious step-mother lay on the floor, "Five minutes?" He asked, Sam nodded and Max took a deep breath and looked at Dean and I, "Go." He ordered, the chandelier above us stopped shaking but I remained still, so did Dean.

"Guys." Sam tilted his head and widened his eyes, silently telling us to leave.

I stared at Max for a long moment before reluctantly forcing my legs to move, I touched Sam's arm lightly as I passed by him and tugged at Dean's coat to get him to move, the older Winchester snapped out of his trance and nodded stonily. With slow, purposeful steps he approached the unconscious Ms. Miller and picked her up, I followed them up the stairs with a parting curious glance at Max.

**T**

We found the Master bedroom of the house fairly quickly, where Dean lay Ms. Miller gently on the bed and went into the en-suite bathroom and I heard the sound of a tap running. He returned with a damp flannel and proceeded to clean the cut as best as he could, but it had already begun to swell and bruise horridly. Dean didn't say anything as he worked, and I wasn't in the mood for conversation anyway.

"Do you ever worry about it?" A voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I tilted my head at Dean.

"Sam. Do you ever worry about what's going on with him – the, err, visions and stuff, I mean?" Dean asked.

I hesitated, and then sighed and sat on the bed next to Dean, gently took his hand and held it in mine, "Honestly? Both you _and _Sam scare me sometimes with all the things you do, and Sam's... premonitions are just another bump in the road, you know? But he and I get on so great at the moment that he's like my best friend," I paused and looked down at our hands and how they were intertwined so perfectly, my black Necromancy ring stood out against my creamy, traditionally Irish skin, "And with his, err, gifts at the moment, I know I'm more terrified than I'm letting on, and I don't see myself telling Sam how scared I am about it anytime soon," I squeezed Dean's hand comfortingly, "I know you're scared, too – even though you'd _never _admit it to Sam. But we can all be scared together – because guess what? Fear keeps you alive. It ensures you're still running. It keeps your reflexes in check and it keeps you in the now." Dean smiled and abandoned the cloth and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, bringing us in closer together.

"I... I think I'm in love with you." My head snapped up and I stared at Dean in a stunned silence.

My brain was in a frenzy, going in to overdrive as it began to over-complicate the situation, so my mouth took over for me, "I think I love you too." I replied quietly. A cocky grin curved his mouth and he leaned in, and I let him. We were millimetres away from eachother when suddenly Ms. Miller shot up and gasped, Dean and I jumped and stood up from the bed.

I immediately turned my attention to Ms. Miller, picking up the cloth and dabbing it at her forehead, "Hey, are you alright?" I asked her, really quite glad she hadn't started crying.

Ms. Miller nodded, although she seemed a little breathless and pale, "I'm ok. But, Max, where is he?" She asked.

"He's downstairs talking with Sam, everything's fine, don't worry." Dean assured her.

The woman nodded, "Ok."

The air shifted and I stiffened, gave Ms. Miller a small smile and turned around. The door creaked open to reveal the short figure of Max, leaving Dean and I with one, dreaded question: where was Sam? Sensing the threat that Max emitted, Dean moved purposefully towards him, the door behind Max slammed shut as Dean suddenly shot into the wall at the same time. My eyes narrowed as I gauged how much of a threat Max posed, whilst Ms. Miller gasped in shock, "Max!" She cried.

Max turned his attention to his mother, I stepped in between them and blocked his view of her, my hands rested on my hips as I looked him over with a cocked eyebrow. Max laughed, "Now come on, you saw me take out Dean there, what makes you think you can actually beat me?" He laughed again, his chin jutted out arrogantly.

I glanced at Dean, who shook his head at me, then I looked back at Max and tilted my head, "You make a fair point. But, to answer your question: do I think I can beat you? Huh, well we'll see, won't we sunshine?" I snapped my palm out and Max flung backwards off his feet, hitting the door with a satisfying crunch. I grinned sweetly at him as Max got to his feet, he was a little breathless, but otherwise fine.

_Don't hesitate. Kill him. _

"Well," Max said, "That was unexpected."

"Awww. If that surprised you, then you're gonna hate what's coming next." I felt the air shift and lunged forward with a jab to Max's throat to try and cut off his air supply and finish the fight quickly. I'll admit I was hoping he'd be one of these crappy novice people and a little slow on the mind-bending – I didn't expect myself to be shooting off my feet and colliding with the wall and collapsing next to Dean.

"Ow," I muttered under my breath, "I actually felt that one."

"Steph, _please _stay down." Dean begged.

I glanced at Dean, but I knew I'd be getting back up just out of principal: since when did Valkyrie Cain take a hit and stay down, for Christ's sake? I got to my feet with the same cocky smirk I donned for foes. Max raised his eyebrows at me, "Not gonna listen to your boyfriend?" He taunted.

My smirk grew wider, "Nah."

Max laughed and I clicked my fingers, catching a spark and forming flames in my palms, behind me Ms. Miller gave a small cry of shock and Max's eyes widened, which gave my more twisted parts endless joy at seeing the enemy cower.

_That's right. Do it._

"Now, I've got a set of handcuffs in my pocket – are you sure you want to keep playing this game?" I asked him, Max narrowed his eyes and they flickered to where Dean lay, the arrogant smile formed on his lips again and Dean's pistol suddenly shot in the air and aimed it straight at me.

"Son of a _bitch_!" Dean cursed and was suddenly stood next to me, the gun's safety flicked off and I took a deep breath and cursed my bad luck: if he had it aimed at my heart my coat would absorb the shot and I'd be fine, but my head had no such protection against it.

"Seem's the tables have turned." Max's smile grew wider, showing teeth.

I gave the tiniest of nods, letting the flame's in my hands die out as I held my hands out in a small shrug to match my gesture. Suddenly reality hit me like a full-force train: my memories of my old reality really _were _set in stone, I'd never get the chance to research getting back there, I'd be leaving Dean and Sam – and I'd only just realised how I was starting to feel about the gorgeous older Winchester! My thoughts suddenly froze and my heart began to beat away violently in my chest when Dean stood in front of me.

"You wanna kill her? You gotta go through yours truly first." Dean said.

Another train hit me full-force: Dean, always trying to protect Sam and I, even when I felt he needed someone to do it for him, too. And here he was, doing it all over again, except this time I'd be ripping Dean away from Sam for good. Speaking of, where _was _the younger Winchester?

Max shrugged, unperturbed, "Ok."

My scream didn't drown out the sound of the gun shot. It didn't drown out the sound of blood splattering the walls, either. Or the sound of a dead-weight hitting the floor.

I didn't get much time to react to the events that had just occurred, because when I failed at blinking back the tears, the gun was suddenly pressed on the left side of my head. The shot fired and

.

**T**

_Sam's P.O.V_

I gasped as I returned to the bleary darkness of the cupboard Max had shut me in, holding my head and actually sighing as I recognised it to be a vision. The fading images of Dean and Stephanie's still-warm corpses faded away and I held onto my building rage, letting it boil over. "No. No!" I cried out in a panicked tone, just outside the cupboard, a shifting sound sounded, like something heavy was being shoved across the floor. I froze in shock and tried pushing the door open with a tentative hand, when it swung open I immediately looked around for the person who had freed me, when it came to me that no one was present but me, I ignored it. Instead, I sprinted towards the stairs and took them three at a time.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I was very aware of a familiar headache forming at my temples as I gave a slight nod of agreement to Max as I stared down the barrel of the gun, with a silent parting, the flames in my hands died out as I raised my hands in a miniature shrug. Memories of my past life hit me like the bullet was soon going to, along with the depressing realisations that I would never see Skulduggery or my family ever again, all hopes that I kept alive for self-torture were snuffed out with just one bullet in the brain. The killing realisation was coupled with the disconsolate conclusion that literally two seconds after discovering I actually, really liked Dean Winchester — a lot, I would be dead, leaving our blossoming relationship ruined. All because of one lucky kid with daddy issues. Yep, that sounded about right.

Despite all these damming self-inner-peace discernments, they were all stolen by Dean stepping in front of me and shielding me from the gun. _Dean, what are you doing? Quit stealing my parting moments! _"You wanna kill her? You gotta go through yours truly first." He announced, I bet he had that cocky smirk of his on right now – not because he was taunting Max, but because he knew that in my last moments he was doing what he did best to me: he was driving me absolutely crazy. And I kinda loved him for it.

Max shrugged, unfazed at the situation, "Ok."

I prepared myself for the shot, and instead I almost screamed when the door burst open and Sam rushed in, he looked straight at Max, "No don't!Don't! Please. Please, Max, we can help you, alright? But this, what you're doing, it's not the solution. It's not gonna fix anything."

Max was taking in quick, shuddery breaths, he was practically dripping in sweat, beads rolled down his forehead and joined with his tears, he stared at Dean and I, anguished, and then he turned to Sam. Suddenly he relaxed, and his face cleared. I couldn't believe it: Sam had done it, he'd talked him out of finishing his psycho massacre -

"You're right." Max whispered, Sam smiled at him and I found myself beginning to smile in relief. The air shifted and the gun swung around. No way. A shot sounded and this time I did scream. Sam cried out when Max slumped to the floor dead.

"No! Oh, Max!" Ms. Miller sobbed. I felt strange, less than ten minutes ago I'd been prepared to kill him, and now he'd done it himself...

"Steph," Dean was suddenly pulling my into a tight hug, "Come on, don't look at it." He said.

I frowned and pulled myself away from him, "I'm fine." I said dully, and moved over to Ms. Miller, "Come on, let's get downstairs, I can call the police for you."

**T**

Sam, Dean and I were stood next to the couch whilst a policeman interviewed Ms. Miller. She was pale and her eyes were red and dull with shock, "Max attacked me. He threatened me with a gun." She said.

The policeman nodded as he took down notes, the he gestured to us, "And these three?"

"They're... family friends," Ms. Miller supplied, "I called them as soon as Max arrived, I was scared. They tried to stop him. They fought for the gun."

"And where did Max get the gun?" The officer asked.

Sam and I exchanged a worried look. Ms. Miller suddenly began crying and glanced up at the ceiling, "I don't know. He showed up with it and..." Her voice cracked.

"It's alright, Ms. Miller." The officer tried to comfort the distraught widow.

"I've lost everyone." The woman sobbed.

The officer gave her an awkward smile and turned to us, "We'll give you three a call if we have any further questions."

"Thanks, officer," Dean nodded and looked at Sam and I, "Come on."

**T**

We were walking down the garden path, where Dean's car was park on the side of the road. "If I'd just said something else. Gotten through to him somehow." Sam broke the silence forlornly.

"Ah, don't do that." Dean sighed.

"Do what?" Sam frowned.

"Torture yourself. It wouldn't have mattered what you said, Max was too far gone, Sammy." His older brother explained.

"When I think about how he looked at me, man – right before. I should've done something." Sam sighed heavily.

"Sam, we all risked our lives for him. I mean, yeah, maybe if we had gotten there, like, twenty years earlier..." I trailed off as we reached the car.

"Well, I'll tell you guys one thing. We're lucky we had Dad." Sam concluded.

Dean paused, and then a huge grin broke out on his face, "Well, I never thought I'd hear you say that."

Despite everything that had happened today, I felt the atmosphere lightening a little, the tension that had been building up over the past few days was beginning to fade away, Sam shrugged, a wry grin joining Dean's, "Well, it could have gone a whole other way after Mum. A little more tequila and a little less demon hunting... and we would have had Max's childhood. All things considered, we turned out ok. All thanks to him." He announced.

I turned back to the house and nodded, "All things considered." I echoed.

**T**

Dean and I were sat in the motel room whilst Sam packed up some stuff for the road tomorrow, I was holding parts of a dismantled gun whilst Dean polished them. Sam suddenly entered, "Guys, I've been thinking." He declared.

"Well, _that's_ never a good thing." Dean smirked.

"I'm serious," Sam huffed, "I've been thinking; this demon, whatever it is... why would it kill Mum, and Jessica, and Max's mother, you know? What does it want?" He asked.

"I have no idea." Dean shrugged.

"Well, you think, maybe... it was after us? After Max and me?" Sam wondered.

"Why would you think that?" I asked the younger Winchester.

Sam shrugged, "I mean... what I'm trying to say, either telekinesis or premonitions, we both had abilities, you know? Maybe he was – he was after us for some reason."

Dean put down the gun piece he was polishing and exhaled deeply, "Sam. If it had wanted you, it would've just taken you, ok? This is not your fault, it's not all about you."

Sam frowned, "Then what is this all about?"

I tilted my head as I examined the room, the tension was beginning to curl and thrash, "It's about that damn thing that did this to our family. The thing that we're gonna fine – the thing that we're gonna kill. And that's all." Dean yelled, running a hand through his hair frustratedly.

"Actually there's uh... there's something else, too." Sam said quietly.

"Ah, jeez what?" Dean sighed.

"Dean." I chastised quietly.

"When Max left me in that closet, with that big cabinet against the door," Sam paused and took a little breath, "I moved it."

Dean and I exchanged a look and I looked at him in admiration, maybe I _had _picked the wrong Winchester... "Huh. You got a little more upper body strength than I gave you credit for." Dean smirked.

Sam scoffed, "No man, I moved it. Like, Max."

The smiles slipped from Dean and I's faces, "Oh." The simple word escaped my mouth before I could stop it.

A silence descended upon us as Sam's words sunk in. He moved a cabinet. With his mind. Like Max did.

"Right." Dean said softly, stroking his chin.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

Dean picked up a spoon from a nearby coffee table and held it out to Sam, "Bend this." He challenged.

I rolled my eyes whilst Sam made a noise of frustration, "I can't just turn it on and off, Dean. Idiot."

"Well how'd you do it?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know! I can't control it. I just... I saw you both die and it just came out of me, like a – like a punch. You know, like... a freak adrenaline thing." Sam struggled to explain.

Dean shrugged it off, "Yeah, well I'm sure it won't happen again."

Sam nodded in agreement, but he didn't look as confident, "Yeah, maybe. Look, aren't you two worried? Aren't you two worried I could turn into Max or something?"

I suddenly remembered me asking Skulduggery the exact same thing about Darquesse, I remembered the anxiety and the amount of stress it had caused me. Sam could go a whole different way unless Dean and I gave him the right answer. I opened my mouth to respond but Dean beat me to it.

"Nope. No way. You know why?" Dean suddenly looked deadly serious.

"No. Why?"

"'Cause you have one advantage Max didn't have." Dean said in a plain tone.

"Dad?" Sam guessed, "Because Dad's not here, Dean!" He stressed.

"No, no, no. Me," Dean dropped the serious act and broke out into a huge, cocky smirk, "As long as I'm around, nothing bad is gonna happen to you."

Sam rolled his big brown eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Dean collected the gun pieces and fitted them together, then he threw the gun into the weapons bag and slung it over his shoulder, then he walked over to his younger brother, "Now then. I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go." He said.

I looked up, maybe Dean really _did _know something Sam and I didn't, "Where?" I asked before Sam could.

"Vegas." Dean's grin perked up whilst mine fell. Sam gave Dean the bitchiest glare and stalked out the room to the car, I rolled my eyes at Dean, but when I walked out the room I was smiling at his antics, "What? Come on, guys – we'd clean up!" Dean called to us, a laugh escaped from my lips and Sam smiled and shook his head, but there was something in his expression that hadn't been there before. An expression that I recognised, because I had it, too.

Fear.

Sam was scared of himself, and I was scared of myself too... I hadn't forgotten the headaches that kept randomly popping up throughout the past few weeks. And I knew what it meant, Darquesse was getting stronger, getting ready to overtake.

**Author's Note: Another chapter out the way, team! I'm sorry this one was so overdue, but I have exams in, like, 19 days and I am **_**freaking out**_**. I've been revising and working and school, and writing is getting harder and harder to commit to. I love this story, so so much. And I really don't want to stop doing it, but GCSE's are apparently important and I need to get them, so I'm studying hard, making the parent's proud, etc... but, if I was honest, I'd rather just spend my days writing more chapters for this story. Thank you all so much for holding out on me and not making complaints, I love you all so much and you're all part of the reason I love writing so much! 10 reviews until the next chapter is to be expected – but please please **_**please **_**keep in mind that I am studying hard for exams! **

**Thank you all again!**

**Blue-Eyed AngelGirl**


	15. Chapter 15

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter 15 – The Benders**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

"Look, I know you're just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already. I don't see why we have to go through this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it's true." A tired single mother, Mrs. McKay explained as she held onto her eight year old boy, Evan. We had found a potential case in Hibbing, Minnesota, where there had been a few mysterious disappearances around the area for a couple of weeks, the last disappearance was a few nights ago, and there was one witness: eight year old Evan McKay.

"Mrs. McKay, we know you spoke to the local authorities." Sam offered the tired mother a sympathetic smile.

"But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so..." I trailed off and looked at Dean.

"Don't worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan," Dean assured the boy, "Just tell us what you saw."

The boy nodded, "I was up late, watching TV. When I heard this noise."

"What did it sound like?" Sam asked.

Evan frowned as he concentrated, "It sounded like... a monster." I glanced at Sam.

Mrs McKay raised an eyebrow, "Tell the officers what you were watching on TV."

Evan rolled his eyes, "_Godzilla Vs. Mothra_." He answered.

Dean smiled at the boy, "That's my favourite _Godzilla _movie. It's _so _much better than the original, huh?" He said excitedly.

"Totally." Evan nodded enthusiastically.

"You're so sad." I murmured.

Dean nodded, unashamed, "Yeah," Then he looked at Evan and nodded at Sam, "He likes the remake."

"Yuck!" Evan scrunched up his face and glanced at Sam as if he had committed a crime, Dean nodded sadly.

Sam stole a glare at his older brother and cleared his throat, "Evan, did you see what this thing was?" He asked.

The boy shook his head, "No. But I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car."

"And then what?" I pressed.

"It took him away. I heard the monster leaving, it made this really scary sound." Evan looked up at me with wide eyes, kind of like a puppy.

"What did it sound like, Evan?" Sam asked.

"Like this... whining growl." The eight year old answered, Dean gave me a look and I nodded discreetly.

"Thanks for your time, Evan." Dean smiled and gave the boy a friendly wink.

**T**

After a day of inquiring around town, Dean suggested that we 'investigate' at the local bar, _Kugel's Keg_. The boys were on beers whilst I stuck to soda water, I helped out Sam with the research whilst Dean idly threw darts. "So, local police have ruled out foul play. Apparently there are worse signs of a struggle." Sam announced.

Dean shrugged as he threw another dart, "Well, they could be right, it could just be a kidnapping. Maybe this isn't our kind of gig."

"Yeah, maybe not," Sam muttered as I took a sip of my drink and tapped John Winchester's journal, it was opened on a reference page their Dad had made, I had seen it earlier whilst flipping through it, "Hey, Dad marked the area, Dean," Sam said, Dean held the dart he was about to throw and approached our table, where Sam spun the journal around and showed it to Dean. "Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker." Sam recited the notes.

Dean frowned and looked up from the old book, "Why would he even do that?"

Sam shrugged whilst I studied the police report, "He found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night – grabs people, then vanishes."

"In the statistics report here it says that this county has more missing persons per capital than anywhere else in the state." I supplied, giving Sam the paper I was reading off.

"Huh," Sam muttered as he studied the figures, "That's odd."

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Hang on," Dean held his hand up, "Don't phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds? Mr. Jenkins was taken from a parking lot."

"Well, there are all kinds," Sam shrugged as I took another sip of my drink, "Phantom Gases, Springheel Jacks-," I choked on my drink at the name, "You alright, Steph?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, fine. Just, uh, went down the wrong pipe." I explained, my cheeks reddening a little.

"Look, Dean," Sam turned his attention back to his brother, "I don't know if this is our kind of gig either."

Dean nodded slowly, "Yeah, you're right. We should ask around more tomorrow."

"Right," Sam agreed, then he took out his wallet and started leafing through it, "I saw a motel about five miles back."

"Whoa, whoa, easy. Let's have another round." Dean protested.

Sam frowned, "We should get an early start."

"He's right, Dean. You are so _not _a morning person." I agreed, giving him a doubtful look.

"So not helping, Steph!" Dean rolled his eyes and I smirked, "You really know how to have fun, don't you, Grandma?" He sighed at his brother, "Alright, Steph and I will meet you outside."

"What? What are we doing?" I frowned as Sam began to gather up his research.

Dean held up the three darts, "If I can get one of these on the bullseye, I get to buy you a drink tomorrow night." He challenged.

I raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "You can try, but, by the look of tonight, you're a bad shot." I teased.

"Then what do you have to lose?" He smirked.

I shrugged and got up from the table, "Alright, if you can get one bullseye, you can get me a drink tomorrow night."

Dean grinned and went to throw his first dart, it was on the board, but not near enough to the target to shake my confidence. His second dart, however, was a little too close to my liking for me to think this was a safe bet. I decided to cheat, when he threw his third dart I lightly nudged at the air as I fixed my hair, the dart was promising a smooth bullseye and suddenly veered off to the left, hitting the eleven.

"What the?" Dean frowned and then looked at me, "You cheated!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at me.

"I did nothing of the sort." I shook my head and widened my eyes innocently.

"Right." Dean rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around my waist and leant in and lightly kissed me.

**T**

Dean and I exited the bar smiling and laughing, our hands clasped together and my head resting on his shoulder. We approached Dean's car slowly, giggling and laughing at our idle chatter, when suddenly Dean frowned. "What is it?" I asked, noticing him go rigid.

"Sam's not here." Dean answered.

I unlinked from Dean and walked faster to the car, John Winchester's journal and our research from earlier lay on the desk, but Sam was nowhere to be found, I even checked inside the car to see if he was there. I looked back at Dean and shook my head, he looked back at the bar with a look of confusion on his face. "Where could he have gone?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't know..." Dean muttered, his eyes fixed on the bar.

"Hey, the bar's closing in an hour, why don't we just stick around and see if he comes out with everyone else." I suggested, walking back over to Dean and putting my hands on his shoulders.

**T**

Almost an hour later, the bar doors opened and the crowd exited the building, Dean and I walked over and split up onto different sides of the group. "Hi, have any of you seen a guy – tall with dark hair and dark eyes? Goes by the name of Sam?" I asked hopefully to four people, they looked at me and shook their heads no and I sighed and nodded.

Disappointed, I turned away and looked at Dean, where he was asking a couple, "You guys been outside, around here in the last hour or so?" He asked, the couple shook their heads and walked away, Dean turned around and I glimpsed the crestfallen expression on his face, he caught my eyes and looked away from me, jogging to the corner of the street and glancing around frantically. "Sam!" He called, "Sammy!"

"Dean." I pointed to the CCTV surveillance camera situated above a streetlight overlooking the bar and it's carpark.

**T**

"Steph, come on, get up!" I cracked open an eye to see Dean shaking me awake.

I blinked sleepily, "What time is it?" I yawned.

"It's just gone 6, come on, get dressed." Dean stood up from the bed and I sat up, blinking myself awake.

When my feet touched the floor Dean threw my FBI dress and shoes, I picked it up and frowned, "Where are we going?"

"Sheriff's Department downtown." Dean replied, shrugging on his own crisp white shirt and picking up his tie.

I nodded, remembering we were missing Sam, "10 minutes." I promised, before padding to the bathroom and shutting the door behind me.

**T**

I emerged later with my formal outfit donned to find Dean pacing the room nervously, his head snapped up as soon as he heard the door open, "Ready?" He asked, a little impatiently.

I nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

**T**

In the Sheriff's Department, a deputy, Kathleen, squinted as she surveyed our State Police ID's that Dean had made for us this morning, "So, what can we do for you, Officer's?" She asked.

"We're working on a missing persons case." I replied as we folded away our badges.

"I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the State Police." Kathleen frowned.

"Oh, no," Dean smiled thinly, "No. There's someone else, actually – it's my cousin. The three of us were having a few last night at this bar down the highway, and we haven't seen him since." He explained, keeping the details brief.

"Does your cousin have a drinking problem?" The deputy asked.

Despite the situation, Dean cracked a genuine smile, "Sam? Two beers and he's doing karaoke," Kathleen smiled, "No, he wasn't drunk. He was taken."

The woman nodded and sat down at her desk, turning on the computer as we sat next to her, "Alright, what was his name?" She asked.

"Winchester. Sam Winchester." Dean answered.

"Like the rifle?" Kathleen typed it in.

I smiled, "Like the rifle." I echoed.

We turned our attention to the screen as it loaded, a picture of Sam appeared and I glanced briefly at the record. Kathleen clicked on a link and Dean's picture appeared, "Samuel Winchester. So, you know that his brother, Dean Winchester, died in St. Louis. And, uh, was suspected of murder."

I glanced at Dean, he struggled to remain nonchalant, "Yeah, Dean. Kind of the black sheep of the family," He sighed deeply, "Handsome, though." He added as an afterthought, it took a great amount of willpower to keep the smile off of my face.

"Uh-huh," Kathleen murmured as she typed into the computer, "Well, he's not showing up in any current field reports."

"Oh, we already have a lead, we saw a surveillance camera just next to the highway near the bar." I supplied.

"The County Traffic camera?" Kathleen asked.

"Right, yeah," I nodded, "We're thinking that camera picked up whatever took them."

"Or, whoever." Dean added.

"Well, I have access to the traffic camera footage down at the County Works Department, but – well, anyhow, let's do this the right way," She got up from the desk and walked over to the filing cabinet, opening the drawer and pulling out some paperwork, "Why don't you two fill out a Missing Persons Report and sit tight over here?" She handed me a clipboard and a pen.

Dean took the clipboard from my hands and made a face as he looked down at it, "Look, Officer, he's, uh, Sam's family. I kinda – I kinda look out for the kid. You gotta let us go with you."

The deputy shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't let either of you do that."

Dean cocked his head, "Well, tell me something. Your county has it's fair share of Missing Persons. Any of 'em come back?" He gave Kathleen a challenging glance, she bit her lip and looked down, "Sam's my responsibility. And he's coming back. _We're _bringing him back."

Kathleen stared at us for a long moment, "Can you two wait outside my office for a moment, I'll be with you soon." She walked away without another reply, Dean and I watched her go before I tapped him on the arm.

"Hey, come on. If she doesn't come back I can just kick her ass." I smiled and pecked him on the lips lightly and exited the office, Dean followed close behind. We sat on the pair of metal chairs closest to the deputy's office door.

**T **

_Sam's P.O.V _

I jerked awake and rubbed the back of my head with a groan. I was confined in a metal cage in what looked to be an old barn, I looked around for any sign of a threat, opposite my cage was another, a man was laying still with his back to me. I didn't know if he was alive or not. Despite everything, I was happy to see that Dean and Stephanie weren't here with me, it meant that they were out there, probably scouring the Earth looking for me.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Twenty minutes had passed and Dean and I had sat in silence for most of it, I quietly sung Led Zep's _Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You _as I stared out the open window. "That's a good song." Dean murmured.

I stopped singing and looked at Dean, "Yeah."

Dean rested his head against my shoulder and closed his eyes, "Sing it again for me?" He asked.

I sang the lyrics softly, the words escaping my mouth and barely filling the sound around us, after a few minutes Dean yawned and I paused, "Tired?" I smiled.

Dean nodded and blinked sleepily up at me, "Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night."

I frowned, "Why not?"

He shrugged, "Sam." He answered simply.

I ran a hand through his hair, "We're gonna find him, Dean." I assured him.

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but the door to the office opened and Deputy Kathleen exited, "Greg, I've got something for you and Alice to-," she paused when she saw us, "Oh, am I interrupting something?" She asked.

Dean and I sat up and moved apart, "No no, what do you have for us?" He asked.

She approached us and handed Dean a selection of photos, "These traffic cameras take an image every three seconds, as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, Sam, disappeared.

Dean glanced at some of the photos, then looked up at the deputy, "This really isn't what we're looking for."

"Just wait, wait – look at the next one," Kathleen insisted, Dean turned over to the next photo, it was a grainy night image of a rusty, old truck driving, "This one was taken right after Sam left the bar. Look at the license plates." She tapped the page and I narrowed my eyes and made out the plate, it shone out against the rusted end of the vehicle.

"The plates," I glanced up at Dean, "They look new."

"It's probably stolen." He nodded.

"So, whoever's driving that rust bucket must be involved." Kathleen nodded.

Outside the window, a vehicle drove past, it's engine whining loudly. The three of us all turned to look at it as it passed around the corner, giving a gritty, guttural groan as it did so. Dean tapped me lightly and I shifted my attention to him, "Hear that engine? Kind of a _whining growl_, isn't it?" He asked, putting emphasis into _whining growl_.

_Whining growl, whining growl... where have I heard that..? _

My mouth dropped open a little as I remembered little Evan McKay's description of the so-called monster he'd heard. "Oh." I said.

Dean nodded, "Yep."

**T**

_Sam's P.O.V_

I breathed heavy with enervation, I'd spent the majority of my time since coming into consciousness trying to kick down the door to the cage. I really, _really _wished I had Steph's amazing Elemental powers – the force that using the air was incredibly strong, and if it could break open locked doors, then I was sure it could free me out of the cage. Opposite me, my fellow inmate finally groaned awake, I moved closer to the bars to look through. "You're alive," I said in amazement, the man groaned again and I frowned, "Hey, you ok?" I called to him, my tone filled with concern.

"Does it look like I'm doing ok to you?" He snapped at me.

I ignored his awful mood, "Where are we?"

"I don't know. The country, I think. It smells like the country." The man offered back-handedly.

Something suddenly clicked in my head, "You're Alvin Jenkins, aren't you?" I guessed.

"Yeah." Alvin shut his eyes, I didn't know if it was because he was in pain or exhausted – or both.

I sighed heavily, "I was looking for you."

Alvin cracked one eye open, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

The man scoffed, "Well, no offense, but this is a piss-poor rescue attempt."

I decided to try and comfort him, "Well, my brother and my friend are out there right now. They're looking for us. So-"

"So, they're not gonna find us," Jenkins interrupted rudely, "We're in the middle of nowhere," He paused and pointed to the door, "Waiting for _them _to come back and do God-knows-what to us."

My eyes widened, "What are they? Have you seen them?" I asked.

Alvin frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"Whatever's got us, what did they look like?" I pressed.

Alvin shrugged, "See for yourself," The large, heavy-set steel door creaked open and two figures wearing dark coats and hats entered. One of the pair moved to Jenkins' cage and kicked it roughly, it made a terrible noise and Jenkins moved himself into one of the back corners of his cage, meanwhile, the other man goes to a panel littered with buttons and inserted a key from his pocket into the lock. My inmate's cage unlocks and the men entered, "Leave me alone! Don't you take me, leave me alone!" Alvin cowered, one of the men crouched and I watched as they placed a plate of food in front of him. The exited the cage and walked over to the panel, I watched curiously as they twisted the key and took it back, with a screeching protest, the cage locked and they left.

"I'll be damned," I murmured as the huge entrance creaked shut, "They're just people."

Jenkins looked up from devouring his plate of food hungrily, "Yeah. What'd you expect?"

"How often do they feed you?" I called out to the dark shadows of Alvin's cage, where he was lurking.

"Once a day." His answer sounded muffled, I guessed his mouth was full with food, "They use that thing over there to open the cage." A hand emerged from the dark and pointed towards the panel.

"And that's the only time you see them?" I pressed.

"So far. But I'm waiting." Alvin replied.

"Waiting for what?" I frowned.

"_Ned Beatty _time, man." He said craftily, I smiled to myself: Dean had made me watch the film _Deliverance _once.

"I think that's the least of your worries right now." I shrugged.

"Oh, yeah?" Alvin challenged.

"Yeah."

"What do you think they want, then?" Alvin asked, I reached up and grabbed a long wire which stretched from the top of a pole to the ground, I tugged on it hopefully.

"Depends on who they are." I replied.

"They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me. Looking for love in all the wrong places." Jenkins voiced, I didn't reply: I was too busy trying to detach the wire from the pole above, silently begging Steph and Dean to find me. Fast.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean, Kathleen and I took an officer's car out to follow the truck's trail, Kathleen drove, whilst Dean and I sat in the back. "Ok, the next traffic camera is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn't pass that one." Kathleen said to us from the driver's seat.

"So, it must've pulled off somewhere. But we didn't see any other roads here as we came into town." Dean leant forward a little in his seat.

"Well, a lot of these outskirt properties have their own private roads." The deputy replied.

I sighed, "Great, so this could take a while then."

Up front, Kathleen's phone beeped and she checked it with her left hand, "So, you two." She called.

Dean and I turned to look at her, "Yeah?" I answered for us.

"While the photos were printing, I ran your badge numbers – it's routine when we're working a case with state police, for accounting purposes and what have you." She explained, Dean stiffened next to me but remained calm.

"And?"

"And, uh, they just got back to me," Kathleen did a sudden hard turn and pulled out onto the side of the road, "It says here that your badges were stolen," We both feigned looks of surprise, "And I have pictures of both of you." She showed us her screen, on it there was a photo of an overweight, balding African-American, the next one showed a middle aged lady with a grey pixie crop.

There was a short silence and both Dean and I chuckled nervously, "I lost some weight, and I got that Michael Jackson skin disease."

"Mmmhmm, and what's your excuse, _Alice_?" She looked at me.

I smiled sweetly, "Oh, you know, I had some money saved up and splashed out on some plastic surgery, grew my hair out and re-dyed it and what not."

"Oh, and your Irish accent is really shining through, but apparently you were born and raised in California." Kathleen narrowed her eyes.

"Err, it's an old Irish secret – the Irish air keeps you young and strong!" I laughed.

Kathleen clicked off her seatbelt, "Ok, would you both step out of the car, please?"

Dean held his hands up, "Look, look, look," Kathleen paused – much to my surprise, "If you wanna arrest us, that's fine. We'll cooperate, I swear." He promised.

I arched an eyebrow, "We will?" I whispered.

"But, first," Dean ignored me, "Please – let us find Sam."

Kathleen frowned, "I don't even know who you are, or if this Sam person really _is _missing."

"Ok, ok, Kathleen?" I leant forward into her view, "Look into our eyes and tell us if we're lying about this." I told her earnestly.

The deputy paused as she stared at us, but then scoffed, "Identify theft? Look, you're both impersonating officers."

"Here's the thing," Dean interjected, "When Sam and I were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire, and ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe. I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast... please," My eyes widened as Dean's voice suddenly cracked, "He's my family." I stared at Dean in shock: I'd never seen him like this before, it was unnerving to see someone so strong like him scared.

Nevertheless, Kathleen shook her head, "I'm sorry, but you've given me no choice. I have to take the both of you in," She fastened her seatbelt and turned the key in the ignition, "After we find Sam Winchester."

**T**

_Sam's P.O.V_

The barn offered no indication of a clock and I didn't have a watch, but I guessed I had been trying to free the metal coil for around half an hour, Jenkins had finished his food a while ago and I could tell he was watching my attempts. "What's your name again?" He asked.

"It's Sam." I replied.

"Why don't you give it up, Sammy, there's no way out." Alvin yawned.

I gritted my teeth, partly because my arm was throbbing from being elevated for so long, partly from my patience wearing down, "Don't... call me... Sammy!" I gasped when the coil ripped free, a piece of metal fell down to the cage floor, along with the wire.

"What is it?" Alvin asked. I crouched and picked it up and studied it closely.

"It's a bracket." I answered.

In the dark and the silence, Jenkins scoffed, "Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we've got 'em, huh?" He asked, his tone laden with sarcasm. Suddenly, Alvin's cage unlocks itself and the door swung open, "Must've been a short," My fellow inmate muttered, his eyes were shining with hope and gratitude as he climbed out of the cage, "Maybe you knocked something loose, even."

I watched Jenkins as he sighed happily and stretched, glad to be able to actually stand up without hitting his head, but something inside me was festering. "I think you should get back in there, Alvin." I advised.

Alvin frowned, "What?"

"This isn't right." I continued, shaking my head.

"Don't you wanna get out of here?" He asked, regarding me with incredulity.

I nodded uncertainly, "Yeah, but that was too easy."

"Look, I'm gonna get out of here, and I'm gonna send help, ok. Don't worry." He assured me, the hope and gratitude in his eyes being replaced with his default arrogance.

I shook my head in disagreement, "No, I'm serious. Alvin – this might be a trap." I warned.

Alvin flashed me a cocky smirk, "Bye, Sammy." He walked away from my cage and pushed open the large door, it gave away and he slipped out without another glance back at me. I sat there and waited, something telling me that that was the last time I'd ever see Alvin Jenkins.

I counted the seconds after the door shut behind my former inmate, not a minute later, I heard Alvin screaming and I knew it was the sound of him dying. I sighed and shrank down in my cage, pleading for Dean and Steph to hurry up.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

After going down several roads, which all led to dead ends, Kathleen turned the car around and headed back towards the town, I thought this was the deputy giving up and taking us back to the station to have us arrested, but Kathleen again surprised us by taking us for coffee. The three of us were walking back to the car, all of us holding travel cups of coffee from the nearest café, "Hey, Officer? Look, I don't mean to press my luck." Dean started.

"Your luck is so pressed." Kathleen responded.

Dean smiled a little, "Right. I was wondering – why are you helping us out, anyway? Why don't you just lock us up?" Dean voiced all the questions I had been keeping in all day.

The deputy took a deep breath before she answered, "My brother, Riley, disappeared three years ago. A lot like Sam. We searched for him, but – nothing. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone, and for them..." She trailed off and took a sip of her coffee, Dean and I exchanged a sympathetic look, "Come on. Let's keep at it." She forced a smile on her face and got into the car.

"Oh God, that's terrible." I murmured.

"Yeah. No wonder she's trying to help us." Dean agreed.

**T**

A little while later, we were passing by a forest on a single, outback road. Regardless of the coffee I'd had earlier, being stuck in the car next to Dean's warm form all day had me being drowsy. He let me curl up against his chest and use his FBI jacket as a makeshift blanket. I was just about to drift away into the warm, welcoming embrace of sleep when Dean suddenly jerked forward in his seat. My head hit the back of Kathleen's seat and I cried out in surprise mixed with pain, "Wait, wait, wait – pull over here. Pull over," Dean held me carefully and pointed out the window for Kathleen, whilst she pulled the car over I gave him an icy glare, "This is the first turn-off I've seen so far." He explained, although noone asked.

Kathleen nodded and undid her seatbelt, "You two stay here, I'll check it out." She ordered.

"Nu-uh." I protested.

"No way." Dean joined in on my rejection.

Kathleen sighed when we followed her out of the car, I kept Dean's jacket on to try and fend off the cold evening air, the deputy took five steps towards the woods before she stopped and turned around. "Right, sorry, but you're both civilians. And felons, I think. I'm not taking either of you with me." She decided.

"You're not going without us." Dean argued.

Kathleen sighed heavily, "Alright. You promise you two won't get involved? You'll both let me handle it?" She asked.

We both nodded, "I promise." The lie slipped from my lips effortlessly.

"Yeah, sure." Dean smiled, he was almost as good as lying as I was.

The deputy stuck her hand out to Dean, "Shake on it." Dean stuck his hand out and the woman grasped it firmly, whilst they shook hands Kathleen looped one half of a set of handcuffs around his wrist, I stepped forward, but she grabbed her gun and trained it on me whilst she held onto Dean's secured arm.

"Oh, come on." I frowned, raising my hands in surrender. Wearing this stupid dress was useless – I had no protection against _anything_: the cold, bullets... the stupid front seat.

"Give me your right wrist." She ordered.

Reluctantly, I outstretched my hand. Kathleen snatched it and looped the other half of the handcuff on me. She grabbed the metal chain link and led us towards the police car, when we reached the driver's door and used another pair of handcuffs to attach us to the door handle.

"This is ridiculous, Kathleen," Dean groaned, "I really think you're gonna need our help."

"I'll manage, thank you." Kathleen locked the car and walked away, Dean and I watched her leave.

"I gotta start carrying paper clips." Dean sighed.

I waited two minutes, then shivered and tugged at the cuff, it rattled loudly, but not much else happened. "Come _on_." I groaned.

**T**

I felt bad that I had taken Dean's jacket in the car and couldn't give it back to him, but as the sun disappeared and it got even colder, I was secretly happy, even if I was still cold, jacket or not. It had been a while since Kathleen had left us chained to the handle, and we were getting irritable. I tried yanking the chain off with brute force again, "Stupid... fucking... _cuffs_!" I struggled.

Dean stretched across the bonnet of the car, reaching out to the antenna on the car. We both jumped at the sound of an engine backfiring and looked around frantically for the source of the sound. "Oh, son of a bitch." Dean growled and stretched further.

"Hey, let me try." I offered.

"As hot as it would be to see you bend over the bonnet in that dress, I don't think we have that kind of time." Dean replied as he reached further for the antenna.

"I'd hit you if I wasn't so cold." I mumbled, the heat rising in my cheeks.

After a few minutes Dean gave a sigh of relief and stood back up with the antenna, "Got it." He said triumphantly.

"Great! Now hurry up, someone's coming." I said through gritted teeth. Dean smiled when the cuff around his hand fell free, he massaged his wrist gratefully and I stared at him, "Come _on_, let me free." I urged.

"Right, right." Dean nodded and went to work at my lock, when the cuff clattered against the door we ran towards woods.

**T**

_Sam's P.O.V_

The two men who slaughtered Jenkins came in earlier carrying a woman, at first I was scared it was Steph, but when I saw the victim's face I relaxed, my concern seeped back in when they carelessly flung her in Jenkins' old cage.

When the woman came to she sat up and immediately groaned, her hands reached up and massaged her head. "You alright?" I called to her.

Kathleen stopped working her hands on her head and looked at me, "Are you Sam Winchester?" The woman asked.

Hope blossomed within me, "Yeah." I nodded.

"Your, uh, your cousin and his girlfriend are looking for you." She said.

I sighed in relief, "Thank God. Where are they?" I asked.

The woman faltered, "I, uh – I cuffed him to my car." She answered meekly.

My sigh of relief was replaced with a sigh of annoyance. There was banging on the door and I moved to the edge of my cage to take a peek. There was faint arguing outside the door and it suddenly blasted open, two sets of footsteps entered, one a woman's heels, another a man's. "This place is so fucking gross." A girl's voice drifted towards us as the two figures neared.

"Yeah, but all we need to do is find Sam and Kathleen and get the hell outta here." The male's voice replied.

I smiled, I knew those voices, "Dean! Steph!" I called. The figures moved nearer and I recognised Steph and Dean in the shadows.

"Sam?" I grinned "Are you hurt?" Dean asked.

"No." I shook my head.

"Really? I can't see... Oh my God!" Steph exclaimed and raised her right hand, ready to click her fingers, "I'm such an idiot." She laughed and my eyes widened and I glanced at the woman, Kathleen.

Luckily, Dean was on the same wavelength as I was. He caught Steph's wrist and whispered something in her ear. Behind them, Kathleen frowned in confusion, "Damn," Dean said, "It's good to see you." I could hear the smile in his voice, even if I couldn't see his expression.

"How did you two get out of the cuffs?" Kathleen called to them, Dean and Steph turned around.

"Oh, well, we know a trick or two." Dean shrugged nonchalantly, Kathleen's confusion peaked as she stared at our rescuers.

Steph cleared her throat, I suddenly noticed she was wearing her black FBI dress and Dean's jacket, "Alright," She clapped her hands together and moved towards the door of my cage to inspect the locks, "Dean, locks." She said.

Dean followed and checked out the locks, "Oh man, these locks look like they're gonna be a bitch." He sighed.

"Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there." I supplied helpfully, pointing to the panel with buttons.

"Have you seen them?" Steph asked.

"Yeah. Here's the crazy: they're just people." I replied.

"And they jumped you?" Dean sounded amazed, "Must be getting rusty there, kiddo." He teased as he walked over to the operating panel, he frowned at the assortment of buttons and started tapping away happily.

"What do they want?" Steph asked as she watched Dean.

I shrugged at her, "I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap – it doesn't make any sense to me."

"Well, that's kinda the point," Dean said, "You know, with our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people? They're just crazy."

"Did you guys see anything else out there?" I asked.

"Uh, we saw about a dozen discarded cars hidden out behind this barn." Steph replied.

"Yeah, their plates were from all over, we were thinking that when they take someone, they take their vehicle, too." Dean added.

"Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?" Kathleen piped up from the shadows.

"Yeah, we did, actually." Dean sounded surprised.

Steph moved away from my cage to Kathleen's, "Your brother's?" She asked gently.

There was a loud sniffing noise, and I knew Kathleen was crying, "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, Kathleen." Steph offered, Kathleen didn't reply.

A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, I knew Steph hated people crying, she was trying her hardest to comfort the mourning Kathleen.

"Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards," Dean said, I looked at him and he gestured to the operating panel, "This thing takes a key. Key?" He asked me.

I shrugged, feeling useless, "I don't know."

Dean nodded, "Alright, I better go find it."

Steph's heels sounded on the floor and she emerged from the gloom, "Just you?" Even from here, I could see she had her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, stay here with Sammy and Kathleen." Dean nodded.

"It's Sam." I muttered, whilst Steph stared at my brother as if he was joking.

"Tell me you're kidding." Steph said.

Dean jumped down from where the panel was, "No, I'm not."

I stayed quiet as she absorbed this, she flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder and folded her arms, the sleeves of Dean's jacket were too big so she'd rolled them up. "I'm going with you." She insisted.

"Steph, why is this so hard? Can't you just do as I ask and stay here for me?" Dean said, his tone exasperated.

"Why is this so hard for _you_? I _don't _need protecting." The girl shot back.

"I never said you did!" Dean protested.

"No, but in every single situation we're in – you're always trying to protect me! I'm not some fragile doll, Dean. Like it or not: I can protect myself." She argued.

Dean stalked over to her and she didn't back down, they glared at eachother and I felt uncomfortable watching their dispute, I suddenly felt the need to look away. "I never said you couldn't!" Dean shouted back.

"Then if you think I _can_ in fact protect myself, why are we arguing anyway?" Steph asked, her tone frustrated, she was probably running a hand through her hair right now – like she always did when she got stressed.

I spared a look and was surprised to see them kissing deeply, their passion practically rolling off them in waves. When they eventually broke apart Dean spoke, "I'm sorry." He said, a little breathless.

"Me too." Steph agreed.

I frowned in confusion when the girl allowed Dean to wrap his arms around her neck, "Shall we..?" He asked, Steph nodded and the couple kissed again – this one more ardent than before.

Across from me, the sound of Kathleen clearing her throat loudly caused the two to break apart, "Sorry." Steph apologised to us meekly, it was the first time I'd seen her blush.

Dean took the girl's hand in his, "Let's go get that key." She nodded and they began to leave, Dean was whispering something to her that was making her giggle.

"Be careful." I called out, but my warning fell upon death ears.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Passion. Excitement... Lust.

These feelings bubbled beneath my surface whenever I looked at Dean, and right now they were more fierce than ever. "Right, what's the plan?" I whispered to him in the dark.

Dean shrugged, "Get the key. Get Sam. Live." He answered.

I nodded, "Simple, I like it."

We reached the door to the ramshackled... shack and silently opened the door and slipped in. Everything was dark, and there was no one inside, Dean unlinked his hand from mine and left my side, ten seconds later there was a crash and a "Fuck!" from Dean.

I was glad it was dark – it hid my smile.

"Steph, you got a light?" Dean's pained voice reached me. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame to light the dark, Dean was stood next to an overturned coffee table.

"Smooth sneaking skills, _007_." I smirked and turned away from him and examined the room, the room itself looked to be a lounge of some sort, but with all the dusty old jars everywhere it was hard to tell. Upon closer examination on a small cluster of jars I saw they were filled with various body parts, I blanched and half-ran over to where Dean was stood. I tugged on his arm, "Come on: keys, Sam, live, remember?" I reminded him, he nodded and allowed me to hastily drag him out the room.

We moved out into the hallway and found that the walls were completely covered in hundreds of Polaroid pictures, each photo showed the same two guys stood grinning next to a fresh corpse. I recognised one of the corpses from the research Sam and I had been doing and showed it to Dean, he frowned as he studied it. "Is that... Jenkins?" He asked. I nodded, suddenly feeling queasy: Jenkins limbs had been savagely torn off and the two men were brandishing them like a child brandishes a stick for a play-sword. Dean sighed and shook his head, "I'll say it again – demons I get. People are crazy." He concluded and smiled at me. Upon seeing my nauseous expression he wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders, "Steph? Come on, don't look at it – we'll just grab the key and leave, right?" I gave one stiff, jerky nod and allowed myself to be led up the staircase at the end of the corridor. I took a deep, shaky breath before we climbed the ratty, threaded steps.

_Calm, Valkyrie. Focus on the calm, ignore it._

The layout to this shack-house was bizarre: the kitchen was upstairs, for starters. I let the flame in my hand die out as we neared the kitchen, the bright lights that spilled from the room meant we had to stick to the shadows.

There was someone in the kitchen, I heard the methodical sound of a knife and the sound of meat. I didn't want to ask if it was human meat or not. Dean and I strayed away from the bright kitchen and into the gloomy living room, it was as drab and repulsive as the lounge downstairs, but at least there were no unsavoury jars in sight. Instead, there was a coffee table in the corner with a record player on it, the player was on and was playing an old American song I didn't recognise. Dean suddenly bumped into something hanging from the ceiling and it chimed, "What the?" He frowned in the dark as he quickly stopped it from making a noise.

We both moved away quickly and found ourselves sneaking towards the kitchen, I ignored the old man butchering the meat slab and focused on what was in the kitchen. Dean pointed to the counter and I saw a tray filled with keys. When the man turned away from his meat and went out the adjourning door Dean and I seized the opportunity, we crept forward and examined the key tray, none of them were labelled – much to our dismay, next to the tray there was a small collection of mobile phones, some old, some new. Dean picked up one and looked at me, "This is Sam's phone." He murmured.

I nodded and turned my attention back to the tray of keys, "Which one is it?" I wondered aloud, but kept my tone to a whisper.

Dean shrugged, "I dunno."

I sighed and shrugged too, then I picked up the tray, preparing to take it out to the barn, beside me, Dean was examining a jar filled with teeth – I was doing my best to ignore him. The floor creaked behind us and we whirled to find three girls, one was small and looked to be barely over fourteen with her head cocked curiously. Another looked to be around my age with a slightly pointed face and sharp features. The last girl looked to be a little older than me – around her early twenties – with a fierce glare and tight lipped expression on her face as she aimed a sawn-off shotgun at us.

The girls had two things in common: they all shared the same matted, dirty blonde hair and they all had a weapon: the youngest had a wicked looking knife, the one my age had a blood stained aluminium bat and the older one had the gun held up at us.

Immediately, for the second time that day, Dean and I raised our hands. "Shhh. It's ok, we're not gonna hurt you." I assured them.

The youngest girl stepped forward, the gun was removed from us as she stepped into firing range and we relaxed a little, but remained cautious as the young girl approached wielding the sinister blade. "I know." She simply said and suddenly struck, the knife flashed and she stuck the knife into his arm, missing the flesh and pinning him to the counter.

"Daddy!" The girls screamed and I cursed.

"For fuck's sake!" I swore loudly and glared at the girls.

Beside me, Dean was still staring at his arm and what had happened, "Jeez!" He exclaimed, removing the knife and gripping it tightly. I lunged towards the older girls and grappled for the gun, managing to slide my had in and flick off the safety before it blasted a hole through me or Dean. The middle girl swung the bat and I did my best to dodge – it connected with my shoulder and I hissed in pain and snatched the bat from her. The two men from the pictures downstairs came up and began fighting Dean, whilst the oldest forgot about the gun, hit the bat out of my surprised grip and launched at me. We rolled across the floor together, my strength and speed helping but three against one wasn't the best of odds. The youngest girl pinned my arms down whilst the middle one knelt on my strong legs to keep them in place, the older girl was sat on my stomach straddling me. I flinched and screamed as the older girl raked her nails savagely down my right cheek.

One of the men suddenly crashed into the youngest girl and my arms were free, I wasted no time in roughly yanking the older girl off of me by her tattered hair and kicking out with my legs, I got to my feet and backed away, blood cascading down my face and dripping to the floor as I held my numbing shoulder. I backed into someone and I almost jumped out of my skin, but I relaxed when I recognised Dean, we continued retreating and allowing ourselves to be cornered like prey. I sent death glares to the three bitches, "I'm gonna kick your ass first," I pointed at the fourteen year old, my finger shifted to the middle girl, "Then yours," A malicious, malignant smile spread across my face when I pointed at the oldest girl, "And you... I'm going to kill you." I promised.

_Finally seeing sense, are we?_

Before I could carry out my promises, something hard and heavy hit me in the back of the head and I fell away from Dean and crumpled to the floor.

**T**

I awoke in a wooden chair in the living room from earlier, I was no longer wearing Dean's jacket and I'd lost my shoes in the commotion, my tights were so torn I didn't think they could be considered tights anymore and my dress no longer had it's shoulder straps. Not that I was too worried about that, instead, my brain focused on the throbbing in the back of my head where I was hit and the pulsing at my temples from my dark side, my shoulder ached and sent daggers of pain up and down my arm as I remembered the metal bat that almost destroyed it. I licked my lips and tasted blood, the searing sting on my right cheek reminded me of my new best friend and her nails. I tried to move my hands and found that they were secured in handcuffs, I almost laughed when I saw them: they were the same handcuffs Kathleen had used on us earlier, my feet were secured tightly to the chair legs with some thick rope, so tight I couldn't even flex my toes for feeling.

The same rope had been used to tie Dean to the chair opposite me in a similar fashion, except his hands weren't in handcuffs like mine were. Dean was still unconscious, his left eye was bruised and he had a torn and bloody lip, he was also sporting a cut above his eyebrow, but otherwise seemed ok. "Let me guess," I managed as I focused on the crowd that had been watching me, "We've found a whole freakshow family, even the little girl," I smiled faintly, my head felt like it weighed a tonne and was swimming, "It's cute, really."

The oldest man, presumably the father smiled at me, he'd lost most of his teeth, "Meet Pa, Jared, Lee, and my three angels," He gestured to himself and then his two sons, "Monroe, Mary-Ellen and Little Missy." He pointed to the three girls, oldest first, in turn.

"Angels," I echoed weakly, my voice brittle, "More like ugly, backward whores to me, but sure, whatever you say."

The men laughed and Jared approached me and grabbed my chin and tilted my face upward, "This one's a fighter, Pa. She sure would be fun to hunt... after we've had our _other _fun with her." He let go of my chin and I blinked heavily, trying to make sense of his words through the annoying fog, when I blinked again my eyes wouldn't reopen. I just wanted to just sleep forever. That's all. In the dark, my brain lazily told my that someone was stroking my shoulder, when the hand touched my injured shoulder I jerked away and my eyes shot open. It was Jared, he was still standing next to my chair and laughing along with the others, he pinched my unscored cheek and I gritted my teeth at the pain.

Dean suddenly groaned as he slowly woke, he frowned at the sight of Jared holding my cheek and confusion clouded his injured expression, "What the? Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Dean exclaimed as he looked down at his bound hands.

I somehow managed a smile, "Surprise." I joked, the handcuffs jingled as I tried to move my hands.

Dean frowned at me, "Steph?" Everything sounded distant, he looked up at the family, "What did you give her?" He demanded.

"Nothin'. Naw we don't like to... taint the meat. 'Spect her brain's just a lil' scrambled from the ol' knock Pa did on her with the pan." Lee shrugged at Dean, whilst Jared let go of my cheek.

I tried to ignore the head pain and concentrate on the conversation, "Taint the meat," Dean repeated, "What, like... you yahoos hunt people?" He looked disgusted.

Pa laughed and leant in close to Dean, "You ever killed before, Son?"

"Wh- well, that depends on what you mean." Dean replied.

"I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, an' his before him. I've hunted deer and bear – I even got a cougar once," Pa said, something clicked in my brain and I only just realised they all carried a deep, Southern accent, "Oh boy, but the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands, seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark – makes you feel powerful. Alive."

"You're one sick puppy." Dean smiled.

"We give 'em a weapon," Pa continued, unperturbed, "Give 'em a fightin' chance. It's kinda like our tradition passed down, Father to Son. 'Course, only one or two a year, never enough to bring the law down. Naw, we never been that sloppy."

I frowned slightly: the pain in my temples had somehow worsened, and I half expected myself to experience a full blown aneurysm right here in the chair, meanwhile Dean chuckled, "Yeah, well, don't sell yourself short. You're plenty sloppy." He smirked.

Pa smiled too, "So, what, you with this pretty one right here?" He gestured to me, "You both cops?" He asked.

"If I tell you, promise me you won't make me into an ashtray?" Dean taunted, Lee walked over and punched Dean across the jaw, his head swung back and he managed to maintain his cocky smirk.

"Only reason I don't let my boys and my three angels take you and your girl right here and now is that there's somethin' I need to know – and Monroe _really _wanted to finish your girl off, 'specially with the state she's in now." Pa matched Dean's smirk and walked over the fireplace and grabbed a hot poker. I tried to ignore the screeching pain and, miraculously, the fog lifted a bit, my thoughts sharpened a little and I concentrated on the fire. Fire. I had fire. And I could use fire.

Dean ignored the hot poker, "Yeah," He said, brimming with arrogance, "Something you need to know? How about it's not nice to marry your sister."

"Tell me," Pa ignored him, "Any of the cops gonna come lookin' for you and your girl?"

"Oh, eat me," Dean sighed, then did a double-take, "No, no, no, wait, wait – you actually might." He scoffed, Jared walked over to Dean and held his head in place. Dean's eyes flickered to me and he sent me a smile, when I returned one, his smile grew wider.

"You think this is funny? You and your Whore bought this down on my family! Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games. Looks like we're gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys," He looked at Dean, "And _you _get to pick the animal. What'll it be? The boy, the cop or the Whore?"

"Why are you pointing to me when you say whore?" I muttered, "My name isn't Munroe, after all."

Munroe let out a screech of rage and glared at me, I winked back and she stormed to the kitchen and came back with Missy's blade. "Daddy, I wanna play!" She announced childishly.

"Just a second, buttercup." Pa muttered, holding the hot poker dangerously close to Dean's hand, he didn't even blink, Pa let out a low whistle as the pain in the back of my head finally became bearable, "Boy, you sure're one tough son of a bitch. Let's see how your Bitch handles it. Munroe!"

I sighed and looked past Munroe and at Pa as she drew nearer, "Again, with the name calling, it's completely unprovoked and I just th-." A scream suddenly bubbled up from my lungs and overtook priority of speaking. I forced the scream to stop as I clenched my jaw and let out a muffled whimper as I looked down at the knife plunged deep into my left thigh.

"Ok, wait, wait – look, nobody's coming for us, alright? It's just us." Dean cracked.

"If you don't choose, I will." Pa answered, he pressed the hot poker on Dean's once-white FBI shirt, he screamed in pain and I glared at Pa.

"Stop it!" I screamed at Pa, he smiled at me and took the poker off of Dean and I relaxed a little.

"Ah, you son of a bitch!" Dean groaned.

The man waved the poker less than an inch away from Dean's eye, "No!" The word escaped me before I could stop it.

He turned and crossed the room towards me, "Seems I'm sensing a pattern with the two of you." He announced, I eyed the white-hot poker but didn't move a muscle, he lowered it and pulled the knife agonizingly slowly from my thigh, I blinked and gritted my teeth, but didn't make a noise. "No?" He wondered aloud as he dropped the blood-covered knife carelessly to the floor, looking back at Dean, where he stared at me fearfully, Pa circled me thoughtfully a few times. He stopped when he was on my right and moved the poker up to my face, gauging Dean's reaction, I didn't breath when the poker glided a few millimetres above my unmarked cheek, the heat that was coming off of the metal was almost unbearable.

"Alright, the guy, the guy! Take the guy!" Dean yelled, Pa moved the poker away from my cheek and I breathed, still feeling the heat is gave off.

Pa passed the poker to Jared and takes a string necklace from around his neck, a key was hanging off of it. He handed it to Lee, "Lee, go do it. Don't let him out, though. Shoot him in the cage." His son nodded and walked to the door.

"Wait! I thought you said you were gonna hunt him." Dean protested.

"You were gonna give him a chance." I added.

"Lee, when you're done with the boy – shoot that cop bitch, too," Lee nodded and picked up Monroe's shotgun that was propped against the wall next to the door before leaving, "Better clean this mess up before any more cops come runnin' out here." Pa muttered. From across the room, I caught Dean's gaze, he looked even more scared than I felt – and I didn't even think that was possible.

Then it happened.

The pounding in my temples became more than a muted drum, it started to get louder and louder with each moment that passed, I focused on my pain that fed my rage and breathed calmly and shut my eyes and concentrated. I concentrated on her, and her alone. Then, a single gunshot sounded and Darquesse opened her eyes.

**T**

She tilted her head innocently, smiling a little when the fearless Pa ran to the window and opened it frantically, "Lee!" He called fearfully, when Lee doesn't respond, Pa turned to his possible only remaining Son, "Jared, you come with me. Girls, you watch them both now." The men grabbed their rifles and exited the room. Darquesse knew she could've healed her wounds with a little bit of concentration, but she decided to leave them to serve as a reminder to Valkyrie to call on Darquesse sooner, Valkyrie was a mastered fighter in her own right, but Darquesse knew she had a dark craving for ultimate power – and only Darquesse could satiate from time to time. But Darquesse wasn't a 'time to time' kind of girl – she was a 'full time' kind of girl.

Munroe moved towards Darquesse with a predatory look in her eye, whilst her sister's approached Dean. Munroe glared at Darquesse, unbeknownst to who she _really _was glaring at, and Darquesse held her gaze without blinking. Then, growing bored of the stand off, she ripped through the metal handcuffs and ropes and stood up, still keeping gaze on the girl. The girl's mouth dropped open in shock and Darquesse allowed a smile to grow on her face. She got up and stalked to the girl, Munroe stood rigid and frozen in front of Darquesse, she then looked straight at Dean, who was staring at her in shock and with an arch of an eyebrow a shadow flitted from across the room and opened Munroe's throat.

Darquesse smiled as the girl blinked and then choked on her own blood filling her lungs, she glanced at Mary-Ellen and reached out curiously with both hands. Mary-Ellen opened her mouth and closed it, reminding Darquesse of a goldfish, before she rested her hands on either side of her head and twisted it, a snap sounded and Mary-Ellen collapsed to the floor, dead like her sister.

Darquesse turned to the youngest girl, who looked up at Darquesse with wide, tear-filled eyes, she was practically panting in fear when Darquesse leaned in, ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she did so. Darquesse stopped when her face was less than inch from Missy's and then she whispered in her ear, "Boo." The girl ran for the door and disappeared, Darquesse watched, amused and then straightened up and looked at Dean.

Dean, oh, Valkyrie's gorgeous Dean looked up at Darquesse with wide, green eyes. "S-Steph," He choked out, "Steph, look at what you did!"

Darquesse smiled and tilted her head as she looked at Dean, for the briefest of moments, she considered killing him and being done with it. But she hesitated, she didn't want to kill him just yet – and since she lost her favourite toy in the old reality, she decided Sam and Dean were to be her new playthings. Until she got back home, at least.

Darquesse turned away from Dean and moved to the open window, a light sigh escaped her lips as she surveyed the view – it was the same, and yet entirely new. She couldn't wait to explore and discover new enemies and threats, she was looking forward to battling another, what was it? Demon again.

_But not yet, _Darquesse thought, _Soon, _She promised herself, _But not yet. _

**T**

Darquesse blinked and I gasped and was instantly met with blinding pain from my leg, I collapsed and grabbed onto the window sill for support. "Steph, _please _tell me that's you." Dean called from the chair, I eased myself onto the floor painfully nodded. "Oh thank God," He sighed in relief, I leant my head against the wall and closed my eyes, the exhaustion ready to take me down, like an ocean taking a prisoner. "Steph? Steph! You can't fall asleep just yet!" Dean made me open my eyes and blink at him.

"Dean," I whispered, finally finding my voice. It was weak and pained, but it was mine, "Dean, I'm exhausted." I admitted.

"I know. I know you are, Steph. I just need you to come over here and untie me." Dean replied, I half dragged myself over to Dean, it took a while due to the shoulder, but I eventually made it. "Ok, that's good, now, see that knife? Just reach over and get it for me, ok?" He urged, I glanced at the knife and held my hand out, struggling to find the places where the air connected. It took a few moments but soon the knife jerkily slid across the ugly rug towards me, once it was in my grip Dean's hand took it gently from mine, he cut through his bindings and freed himself quickly. He was next to me in seconds, carefully pushing the hair out of my face, "Steph? Stephanie, can you hear me? I need you with me." A loud voice reached my ears and I frowned in confusion.

"Skul?" I muttered.

"What? Steph, stay awake, please!" It wasn't Skulduggery, this wasn't Ireland – this was Dean, and he needed me to stay awake for something. I forced my eyes to open and found I was in the elder Winchester's arms, we were walking down the stairs of the house from hell. The front door opened before Dean could reach it and Sam stood there, staring at us in shock.

"Dean!" He exclaimed happily, "Oh my God – what happened?" He asked, his joy moulding to shock as he studied Dean's badly beaten face and, well, me.

"We got tortured by the psycho family from hell." Dean answered, he shook me slightly, "Steph, you awake?" He asked.

I nodded into his chest. "Ok, Dean, lay her down here." Sam said, Dean obliged and lay me carefully on the floor.

Sam took of my tights and began ripping them into strips, "What are you doing?" Dean asked as he stroked my hair soothingly.

"Making something to help her shoulder and leg." Sam replied, wrapping one strip tightly around my thigh and securing it, leaving it just loose enough so it wouldn't interrupt blood circulation. "Ok, Steph, where does it hurt most?" Sam asked.

I frowned slightly as I concentrated, "Right... no, no, left shoulder." I answered. Sam got to work in fixing a good enough brace for shoulder, whilst Dean fetched a bowl of water and used an unused tight rag to mop up my face a little. When he was done I woke up a little from the water and sat up slowly, after Dean was done he gave me a smile, but it was drained.

**T**

An hour later my shoulder and my leg were set and my face was as cleaned up as possible, I wouldn't let Dean inspect them further, they still stung both my pride and my face. Sam cleaned his brother up as best as he could, his own wounds were minor and he was more worried for Dean and I than himself. The three of us were stood outside the house waiting for deputy Kathleen, she eventually emerged from the barn just before sunrise. "I've just called for some backup, they should get back to me soon." Kathleen said as she approached, she glanced at Dean's face and then mine, her mouth fell open in shock, "Are you two alright?" She asked.

Dean's hand found mine and he squeezed it, "We're fine. We've been better, but we're fine." He assured her.

"Neither of you are feeling like your gonna pass out if you do something too fast or anything?" She pressed.

I smiled, "No, we're ok."

_Liar. _

Kathleen shrugged, "Alright, so long as you're sure."

We were quiet for a few moments as the sun finally rose, the warm morning amber glow touched everything and made it look so pretty, despite where we were right now.

"The, uh, the family had three girls, I don't suppose you know where they are, do you?" The deputy asked.

Dean glanced at me and I stared at the deputy for a long moment before answering, "The two older ones didn't make it, they attacked me. It was self defence," I lied, "Their bodies are upstairs." I muttered, Dean made a noise and looked away.

The deputy stared at me, her eyes flickered to my scored cheek and she nodded slowly, "And the youngest?"

I shrugged, "She's hiding in the house somewhere, most likely upstairs. What about the Dad?" I asked.

Kathleen cleared her throat, "Shot. Trying to escape." She replied, the four of us all exchanged the same understanding looks.

"I think the car's at the police station." Dean changed the subject.

The walkie-talkie on Kathleen's belt suddenly came alive in a mass of static, "Backup unit en route to your location." I woman sounded.

Kathleen held the walkie-talkie close to her mouth, "Got it. I'm on site now." She replied and then glanced at us, "So, that was the State Police – the _real _State Police," She added, giving Dean and I a look, I smiled a little at the comment, "They're bringing the FBI with them and they're gonna be here within the hour, and they're gonna wanna talk to you three. I suggest that you're both long gone by then." She advised.

Dean nodded, "Thanks. Hey, listen, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Do you think we could catch a ride?" He asked hopefully.

Kathleen smirked, "Start walking. Duck if you see a squad car."

Sam nodded, "Sounds great to me. Thanks."

"And listen, uh..." Dean hesitated, "I'm sorry about your brother."

Kathleen nodded solemnly, "Thank you. It was really hard not knowing what happened to him," Her eyes began tearing up, "I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth – but it isn't," She paused and wiped her eyes, "Anyway, you three should go." She gave us a watery smile and we nodded. Dean let go of my hand and loped it around his neck, taking the weight off of my injured leg. We walked away slowly, Sam and Dean kept a slow pace to keep up with my limping speed.

When we reached the edge of the property Dean picked me up and carried me in his arms, my shoeless feet were hurting me anyway, so I didn't object. "I'm sorry I called you over-protective." I apologised as we walked down the quiet single road.

Dean chuckled, "It's ok, Steph," I felt his shoulders shrug, "Besides, I'm more angry at Sam now."

"What did I do?" Sam protested.

"Just, never do that again, Sam." Dean replied.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Go missing like that." Dean replied, but I heard the smile in his voice.

Sam laughed, "Aww, you were worried about me." He teased.

"All I'm saying is, if you vanish like that again, we're not looking for you." Dean responded.

"Uh-huh, sure you wont." Sam smirked.

"I'm not." Dean insisted.

"Give it up, Dean." I piped up.

"So," Sam changed the subject, "You both got sidelined by a few girls, huh?" His tone was still teasing.

I laughed and raised an eyebrow at Sam, covering the guilt I was feeling, Dean laughed to, "Oh, shut up." He dismissed his brother lazily.

Sam shrugged, a cheeky grin on his face, "Just saying, getting rusty there, kiddo." He said, using Dean's phrase from earlier.

I held my hand out at Sam and lightly brushed the air, it shimmered and he stumbled, making Dean and I laugh, "Right, come on. I wanna find my baby before midday." Dean said.

I frowned, "I'm right here."

"You're not his baby, Steph. He's talking about the car." Sam smirked.

"Typical," I tutted, "All I went through with you last night and you care more about your _car_." I rolled my eyes.

I raised my hand and covered his eyes, "Steph, what are you doing? I can't see." Dean said, a grin began to spread.

"I know," I shrugged my good shoulder, "Just keep in mind that if you drop me, I _will _hurt you." I joked.

Dean's grin turned cocky and he removed my hand, "No you won't. You love me."

I raised an eyebrow, "I love you? Who told you that?" I faked a scoff.

Dean rolled his eyes and I laughed lightly.

After a few more minutes of walking in silence I groaned, "Could you go any faster? Sam's been one step in front of us for ages." I whined in Dean's arms.

"Hey, you carry yourself and try and keep up with the Stickman over there!" Dean responded.

I slumped my head against Dean's chest, "Your so mean today." I pouted.

Sam and Dean glanced at eachother, "You sure we can't just leave her on the side of the road, and come back for her later?" Sam asked, a smile on his face.

"Sorry Sam, pretty sure she'd kill us." Dean smirked.

"Speaking of, how _did _you guys free yourselves? I was all ready to go upstairs and save the day." Sam asked.

Dean's smirk fell quickly and I pursed my lips, "It was, well, I _think _it was Steph. She just kinda... did it." Dean answered.

"It was _her_, you know when I told you about that... prophecy of the world-killer who turned out to be me? That's her." I replied.

"The one in your head?" Dean asked, looking concerned.

I nodded, "She's me, but she's not. She's much, _much_ stronger and more powerful than I could ever be, but she's evil. When I'm her... it's like being locked away in your head watching yourself like a film." I struggled to explain, "Like, I know what she's doing and I know what she's thinking, but I can't control any of it."

"But you were sure that she wasn't gonna, uh surface." Sam pointed out.

I sighed and nodded, "Well, due to the two dead girls, I was wrong, wasn't I? It's fine, I was just running on an emotional high from watching Dean get tortured, to being tortured and then that gunshot sounded and I honestly thought they'd killed you, Sam. She just kinda, appeared."

The three of us were silent for a few minutes.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" I realised.

**Author's Note:**** Early Update! I've finished the chapter early, for once and I'm so happy, although I did stay up all night last night writing on my laptop because I couldn't sleep. I'm so happy I wrote this out for you guys and I'm posting it early, technically I need 4 more reviews but I'm feeling nice! I really hope you enjoyed what I did in this chapter, it was a little touch and go I'm afraid. I was so excited to bring Darquesse into the story – it took forever to build her up! I hope my writing did her justice and that you all enjoyed reading it. Once I get 12 more reviews and I'll post chapter 16 for you guys! I think the next episode is the one with Meg, I'll have to check. **

**Until next time!**

**Blue-Eyed AngelGirl **

**Word Count: 12132 words – 28 pages **


	16. Chapter 16

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter 16 – Shadow **

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Dean was watching me sleep. I could feel it, his eyes on mine as I kept them closed, maintaining my ruse. The air shifted but I remained calm and relaxed, not even letting my eyelids twitch or anything, a hand lightly brushed against my cheek and I fought down a smile. I loved quiet mornings like these, the time we shared in bed alone with Sam in the room down the hall.

These moments provided great distraction for the things we had dealt with over the past few weeks.

"It's rude to stare." I said quietly, keeping my eyes shut.

Dean's hand withdrew from my cheek, his warm touch lingered on my skin, "No it's not." He replied.

"It's a form of invasion of privacy, therefore rude." I argued playfully, arms wrapped around my bare shoulders and pulled me close to Dean's bare chest, "Yeah, see this?" I opened my eyes, "This is an even worse invasion right here." A smile formed on my mouth.

Dean rolled his eyes as he looked down at me, "You never shut up, do you?"

I laughed, "Nope."

The door to our room suddenly opened and I gave a small cry of surprise and pulled the covers over myself. Heavy footsteps entered the room, "Sorry." Sam said sheepishly.

Dean sighed and reached over the bed and grabbed his shirt, which, along with the rest of our clothes, had been messily discarded around the room. He passed it to me and I struggled under the covers to put it on. Once I slipped it on it enveloped my frame and covered me enough to come out from under the duvet.

"Sorry." The younger Winchester repeated, eyeing me shyly with wide, dark eyes that reminded me of the look a puppy.

I forced a tight smile, "Good morning to you too, Sam."

"What's up, Sammy?" Dean yawned and stretched.

Sam held up a folded newspaper and threw it towards us, it landed on the bed and I picked it up. The headline on the front page read:

**YOUNG WOMAN SLAUGHTERED IN APARTMENT**

**Meredith Waters, 23, was found dead in her apartment in Chicago, Illinois last Thursday. Her landlady, who wishes to remain anonymous, found her after her fellow employees questioned her sudden disappearance. The victim's family and friends blame her faulty alarm system, which remained armed when police inspected the apartment, but failed to alert Meredith when the killer entered her home. **

"Well, what do you think?" Sam asked once we looked up from the article.

"It's weird." Dean frowned.

Sam nodded, "Yeah, sounds like our kinda thing, right?"

I bit my bottom lip, "Give us an hour to get ready, then we'll leave."

**T**

We arrived in Illinois in under three hours due to Dean's irresponsible driving, we parked the car in front of the apartment where Meredith was murdered and hopped out onto Chicago's busy street. I stretched, grateful to be out of the car after all that driving, "So, what's the plan?" Sam asked.

"We go to the apartment and check out the scene, see if we can find anything." Dean replied.

"You think they're gonna let us in?" Sam frowned.

Dean shrugged, "What? You have a better idea?"

"Yeah, actually," Sam crossed his arms, "I say we go and hire costumes, pose as employees of an alarm system company."

Dean stared at him, "What? Why? We've never done that before."

I tilted my head, "Yeah we have: the priests, remember?"

"That was just us spending about ten dollars on some priest... neck thingies and a cheap silver cross. What Sam's talking about will cost us about twenty dollars each." Dean protested.

"They're called Clerical Collars, Dean." Sam corrected.

His brother scoffed, "Whatever, I'm still not spending sixty dollars for getting into an apartment when we can just break in for free."

I rolled my eyes and rested my hand on his arm, "Then I'll go to the apartment pretending to be Meredith's best friend and you and Sam can go hire out some costumes, I'll meet you there." I offered.

Dean looked at Sam and the younger Winchester shrugged, "It's a good plan."

Dean sighed and nodded reluctantly, "Ok, fine. We'll be at the apartment in twenty minutes." He agreed.

**T**

I approached the apartment door quietly, once I reached the door I looked through the peephole to check it was really the right door. "Can I help you?" A voice sounded behind me, I whirled and came face to face with an ageing short African-American woman.

"Is this Meredith Waters' apartment?" I asked.

The woman squinted, "Who's askin'?"

"I'm her best friend, Ashley," The lie came easily, "She borrowed a few of my tops and I was meant to meet up with her this Friday to have a coffee and collect them... I live a couple of hours away and it's – it's hard for us to find time and see each other." Tears began collecting in my eyes as I faked a deep breath, "I was just wondering if I could pick them up... her Mum also wanted me to pick up a few things for her." Tears spilled down my cheeks as I looked pleadingly at the woman.

She nodded slowly, "Well, alright, but you'll have to be quick – the alarm company called, they're sending two guys around to check out the alarm system and see why it's faulty."

I took a deep breath and nodded, "Ok, good. I want to have a few words with them myself – their stupid alarm had my best friend killed."

The woman took out a set of keys and began looking through them, she looked up at me and smiled, "I'm Meredith's landlady, see, that was why I came out here in the first place – thought you were a journalist or somethin'."

I smiled and wiped my eyes, "No, not me."

She turned her back on me to open the door, in which time I smiled and mentally congratulated myself for my superior acting talents, she opened the door and I stepped through carefully. The apartment was big, bigger than I imagined it would be, I stopped and looked at the pictures taped to the fridge, staring at the girl in them and envisioned what her life must have been like.

"It's such a shame about Meredith," The landlady sighed heavily as she stood a little too close beside me, "She was nice. A little quiet but, nice."

I nodded absent-mindedly, "Yeah, we'd been friends since school." I agreed. The landlady touched my shoulder, I knew she was trying to do it as a gesture of comfort, but it had the complete opposite effect on me. Nevertheless I retained my character of the mourning best friend, "Did the police take any of her stuff as evidence?" I asked.

The landlady shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't stick around after I found Meredith in the living room..." The woman trailed off and her hand fell from my shoulder. "Her bedroom's through here," She moved out of the kitchen and I followed her into the living room. Everything was white and in it's place – apart from the deep crimson that blemished the eggshell carpet. The red wasn't just in one place either, it was spread out all over the white. My nose crinkled in disgust as I stared at the islands of scarlet. The woman reached out and brushed her hand across my forearm, she liked using physical gestures, I tore my eyes away from the carpet and looked at her. She offered me a sad smile and a buzzer sounded from the hallway, the woman left to answer he door ad I wiped my eyes tiredly. My right hand fell from my face and lightly rubbed my shoulder carefully, after that crazy family we had dealt with a couple of week ago it still had bouts of pain, so did my leg where I was stabbed by that Monroe bitch, but it was otherwise fine.

Darquesse, was another matter.

First of all, I had lied to Dean and Sam about her. I'd told them that I had her under control – that she wouldn't make an appearance and try and destroy the world. But she had, in the Roosevelt Asylum she wanted to kill Sam. And at the Benders' household, I remember her contemplation on killing Dean. I sighed and sat down on a cream coloured sofa and put my head on my hands. That was the second thing; Darquesse was going to kill the only two people who I'd befriended and formed relationships with.

"...Like I said, bang-up job your company's doin'." The landlady's voice drifted closer and footsteps entered the living room, the air shifted slightly and I looked up at them. Dean and Sam were dressed in worker jumpsuits, Sam was carrying the red toolbox from the trunk of the car. The landlady was dwarfed as she stood next to the boys, as she approached me I briefly wondered if I looked like that compared to the brothers. I stood up from the couch and faked a sigh as I approached the trio, careful to avoid the red splotches on the carpet.

Dean opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off with a short slap, I held back a little, but it was enough to make it look real to the landlady. "Your shitty faulty alarm killed my best friend." I said slowly, making it look like I was trying to contain my anger. The boys stared at me, shocked as I maintained my performance, after a moment the landlady stepped forward and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, Ashley, I know you're upset over your friend. But why don't you let them do their job and you can do what you came here to do." The woman offered quietly, her voice scratching a little.

I shook my head, "No."

"No?"

"I – I don't think I can do this right now. It's too much." I lied, my head whipping round to look at the landlady, my expression copying one verging on hysteria, "I think I'm just gonna go and clear my head for a while and come back later when they're gone."

The landlady nodded, "I'll see you out then," She turned to the boys, "How log do you reckon you two are gonna be?"

Sam glanced at Dean, then looked at the landlady, "Uhh, an hour and a bit, I guess? We'll definitely be finished by noon." He assured her.

"Right, ok," The landlady nodded and glanced at me, "If you come back at 2ish, Ashley I can unlock the door for you."

I nodded and wiped a tear from my eyes, the woman gently lay a hand on my elbow and steered me past the boys and towards the door, once we were out in the hallway I faked a sniff, "I'm sorry – I just can't deal with this at the moment. I thought I could handle it, but..." I trailed off.

"Oh honey," The woman's mouth curved upward into a crooked smile of sympathy, "It's alright, just go get yourself a coffee and come back later, ok?"

I took a deep breath, "Ok." With a parting shaky smile I walked back down the hallway and rounded the corner, when I got outside I circled the apartment block before re-entering it and walking back up to where Meredith's apartment was. When I reached the apartment again I opened the door silently and slipped in, Dean and Sam were in the living room talking.

"Come on, Dean. I'm serious. You've been dating Steph for a couple of months now, and she never talks about herself. I was wondering, if you, uh, if you really know everything there is to know about her." Sam was saying.

Curious, I crossed over to the wall and listened in carefully. "Well, she's an Aquarius. She loves tequila, I mean – she doesn't normally drink but when she does," Dean let out a low whistle and I smiled a little, "Oh and she does this great little thing with her tongue-"

"Dean!" Sam protested.

"What? You were asking." Dean responded.

"Not for that! I was asking for – for general facts about her, like, uh when's her birthday?" The younger Winchester continued.

"I told you – she's an Aquarius." Dean replied, his tone teasing.

"Come on, man. I'm serious."

"So am I? So Steph's not an open book, so what?" I couldn't see it, but I knew Dean was shrugging right now.

"I just mean, maybe we should take the time to get to know her more." Sam sounded a little frustrated.

Dean sighed in response, "Sam, I like Steph, ok? A lot. And this job, it's not the best situation for relationships. But I know what I'm doing, Sam. Just back off."

"Alright, sorry I asked." Sam huffed, but it sounded like he wasn't hurt by his brother's sharp comment. I crept back to the front door and opened it a little before closing it loudly, I strode through the kitchen into the living room with a bright smile on my face, pretending I had just arrived.

"Hey." Dean greeted with a smile and pulled me in for a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hi." I replied warmly.

"Hey Steph, how'd you learn to act like that?" Sam asked.

I shrugged, "I dunno, it's a hidden gift I guess."

"Yeah," Dean rubbed his cheek where I had slapped him earlier, "That hurt."

"Awww," I faked a pout and pinched his cheek, "I'm sorry."

Dean rolled his eyes and Sam cleared his throat, we turned his attention to him and he pointed to the red stains on the carpet, "So we popped around to the police station for five minutes when we were getting these jumpsuits. The officer attending told us one thing that wouldn't be making the paper." The younger Winchester said.

I raised an elegant eyebrow, "Hm?"

"Merdith's heart was missing." Sam answered.

I stared at him, a little stunned, "Her heart?" I repeated.

"Yeah," He nodded, "Her heart."

I frowned and looked at Dean, "So what do we have any theories on what did this to her?"

"Well, the landlady said it looked like an animal attack. Maybe it was – a werewolf?" Dean shrugged.

My eyes widened, "They exist here?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah. Why, did they exist in your reality?" He asked.

"Yep, kinda difficult to kill once they've turned. According to my, um, ex-partner, they went extinct around the nineteenth century. We've only come across one." I answered, wincing a little at the mention of Skulduggery.

"Oh... hey you'll have to tell us more about your old life, Steph. You know, get to know you a little bit better." Sam suggested innocently, putting emphasis on the last part.

I shrugged casually, "Sure. But now, let's get back to Meredith – you think it was a werewolf?" I looked at Dean questioningly.

"No, no werewolf – the lunar cycle's not right," Sam shook his head, "Plus, if it was a creature, it would've left some kind of trace."

"So what do you think? Some kind of spirit?" I tilted my head a little.

"Mmm," Dean made an unsure sound as he observed the carpet, he frowned a little; as if he'd noticed something, "Hey – can you two see if you can find any masking tape around here?"

**T**

A little while later, Dean had used the masking tape Sam had found in a cabinet drawer and connected the bloodied marks on it to form an unusual symbol. The three of us peered at it curiously, it looked a little like a 'Z' shape with a circle in the middle of it. "Have either of you seen that symbol before?" I murmured.

Dean shook his head and sighed, "Never."

Sam grunted, "Me neither."

Dean looked at Sam and I slightly childishly, "Anyone up for the bar?" He asked. Sam and I glanced at eachother and nodded resignedly.

"Sure."

**T**

_Sam's P.O.V_

I watched as my brother and Stephanie conversed at the bar, both stood out amongst everyone else stood there. Dean's arm was curled around the girl's slim waist, she'd taken off her jacket to reveal her skin-tight tunic. Steph was leaning into Dean holding her drink as he whispered into her ear, I didn't know what he was saying to her, but she kept giggling and running her hand through his hair. I sighed and took a sip of my own drink, whilst Dean was happily with Steph, I was still missing Jessica and it was making my heart ache with grief and guilt. I hadn't told Dean or Stephanie this, but sometimes I thought I saw her – sometimes she'd be standing in that white night gown amongst a crowd, other times she'd be sat with the three of us on the sofa watching a movie late at night in a motel.

Either way it was driving me crazy.

I felt a pang of jealousy as I caught Dean and Stephanie kissing passionately again, Steph's arms were looped around my brother's neck and Dean's hands were resting on her hips. My jaw clenched and I felt a pang of jealousy go through me.

_Hang on – jealousy? _

I shook my head frantically, trying to shake off the feeling. No way was I gonna start being jealous for my brother and his new love interest. The couple broke off their kiss but my jaw remain locked as Stephanie finished her drink and walked away to the restrooms and Dean approached me. "Dude, we are so getting separate rooms at the motel later." My brother smirked as he sat down.

I gave him a look, but tried not to let his comment get to me, "You mind doin' a little thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?" I tutted.

Dean frowned, "Huh? Look, there's nothing to find out. I mean, Meredith used to work here, she waited tables and everyone here was her friend and said she was normal. I was there when Steph asked the bartender: she didn't do or say anything weird before she died, and no one know anything about anyone wanting her dead," He sighed annoyedly and took a moment to have some of his drink, "So, what about that symbol, you find anything?"

I shook my head, "Nope, nothing. It wasn't in Dad's journal or in any of the usual books. We just have to dig deeper, I guess."

Dean made a face and scratched the back of his head, behind him Stephanie was approaching our small back corner table, she lightly brushed Dean's right shoulder as she sat next to him. "Did you find anything on that sigil, Sam?" Stephanie asked, her big brown eyes hopeful.

I shifted in my seat a little, "Uh, no. I was just saying to Dean here that we'll have to look harder." I replied.

The girl pursed her lips and nodded, "Well, there was that first victim before Meredith, right?"

"Yeah, there was," I fumbled around in my jacket pocket for a newspaper clipping I had saved from last month, I found it and pulled it out and layed it on the table before them, "His name was, uh, his name was Ben Swardstrom. Last month he was found mutilated in his own house. Same deal – the door was locked, the alarm was on." I explained briefly.

Dean looked up from the scrap of paper, "Is there any connection between the two of them?"

I shook my head, "Not that I could tell – I mean, not yet, at least. Ben was a banker, Meredith was a waitress. They'd never met, they didn't have anyone in common – they were practically from different worlds." I glanced at Stephanie at the last part.

The girl sighed and sat back a little, "So, to recap, the only successful intel we have on the case is... Oh right, nothing." A faint smile crept on my face as I looked at her – she was sassy and more than sarcastic when we first met her, but now she'd spent time with my brother and I she was even more so.

I stared at the girls' pretty features until someone behind her in the crowd near the bar caught my attention, I frowned and looked closer. Dean clicked his fingers in front of my face, "Sam?" I ignored him and stood up, keeping my gaze on the familiar face as I approached them.

"Sam," Steph called out, "Is everything ok?"

I reached my acquaintance in disbelief and placed a hand on their should, the blonde head turned around to face me, delicate pixie features breaking into a smile when she recognised me, "Meg."

"Sam!" Meg exclaimed, pleased to see me.

**T**

"Oh Sam, is that you? Oh my God!" Meg stretched up on tiptoes to hug me, I returned it, still slightly puzzled, "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I'm just in town, visiting friends." I lied.

Meg glanced around curiously, "Where are they?"

I coughed awkwardly, "Well, they're not here right now, but what about you, Meg? I thought you were going to California?" I changed the subject quickly, remembering her plans to head out to California and party hard.

"Oh, I did," Meg laughed, "I came, I saw, I conquered," Dean and Stephanie came up behind me, looking at Meg with interest, "Oh! And I met what's-his-name, something Michael Murray at a bar." The petite blonde added.

I frowned, "Who?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the whole scene got old, so I'm living here for a while." Meg explained, beside us, Dean cleared his throat loudly, trying to get our attention.

"You're from Chicago?" I frowned.

"No," Meg smiled again and shook her head, "Massachusetts – Andover. Gosh, Sam, what are the odds we'd run into eachother again?"

Steph tilted her head at the word _again_, whilst I nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah I know, I thought I'd never see you again."

"Well, I'm glad you were wrong," Meg gave me a secret smile. Dean cleared his throat even louder than last time and Meg finally glanced at him and Steph, "Dude, cover your mouth."

"Yeah, um, I'm sorry, Meg. This is my brother, Dean. And that's our friend, Stephanie." I introduced them to Meg in turn.

Meg stared at Dean, glancing at Stephanie in interest, "This is Dean?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Dean smirked cockily, "So, you've heard of me?"

The blonde scoffed, "Oh, yeah. I've heard of you. Nice – the way you treat your brother like luggage?"

My brother looked taken aback whilst Stephanie raised an eyebrow, "Sorry?" Dean asked.

Meg cocked her head, "Why don't you let Sam do what he wants to do? Stop dragging him over God's green Earth."

"And just who do you think you are?" Stephanie narrowed her eyes coldly as she towered over the tiny Meg.

"And Stephanie, right? Have you told the boys anything about you yet – or are you still frustrating them by playing that pathetic 'mysterious dark girl' act?" Meg continued.

Stephanie looked ready to lunge at Meg, I looked down and saw her finger with her deadly black ring on twitch a little. I knew what happened when she'd use that ring. I'd seen it: the black shadows she grasped out of nowhere that could tear people to shreds. Dean must have noticed too, he smiled thinly at Meg and shot me a look, "Okay, awkward," He let out a low whistle and took a hold of Steph's arm, "We're gonna get a drink now." He moved towards the bar, trying to take Steph with him, but she refused, her dark eyes locked on Meg's. Dean glanced me again and shot me a quick glare, he leaned down to Stephanie and whispered something in her ear – too low for either me or Meg to hear. Whatever he said to her made her relent, they walked over to the bar, moving through the crowd effortlessly.

"Sam," Meg sighed and turned back to me, "I'm sorry. It's just – the way you told me he treats you. And that girl Stephanie not telling you anything about herself... if it were me, I'd kill them."

I smiled a little, but it was sort of forced, "It's alright. They both mean well."

The petite girl nodded, "Well," She tapped my arm suggestively, "We should hook up while you're in town."

I laughed a little, "Yeah."

Meg raised her eyebrows, "I'll show you a hell of a time." She promised.

I looked at her, and thought of Jessica, and then my eyes began to wander over to Stephanie before I mentally shook myself and looked back at Meg, "You know what? That sounds great. Why don't you, uh – why don't you give me your number?" I took out my phone and flipped it open ignoring all my thoughts before looking up at Meg expectantly.

"312-555-0143."Meg recited, I nodded as I tapped it in.

"I, uh, I never got your last name." I paused as I added it to my contacts list.

"Masters." Meg smiled.

"Masters?" I nodded as I saved it.

"So," Meg's lips curled into a smile, "You better call."

I nodded, "Scout's Honour."

"I hope to see you around, Sam." She left me one parting smile, I returned it and she walked away.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Surprise went through me as Sam's friend's – Meg, or whatever, words settled. _Did she seriously just say that? _"And just who do you think you are?" My eyes narrowed as I my height loomed over the petite blonde's.

Meg smiled a smile equally as cold as my tone, "And Stephanie, right? Have you told the boys anything about you yet – or are you still frustrating them by playing that pathetic 'mysterious dark girl' act?" Her words hit me harder than I thought they would – so Sam wasn't kidding around with Dean earlier, he was starting to question me: and for a while apparently, considering this random girl Sam had confided in with was using it pretty confidently.

My jaw tightened and my teeth gritted together. _Who the hell does this bitch think she is? _I began considering my options of defence in the situation – one at the top of my list went to violence. My ring finger twitched instinctively as I tried to breathe calmly. Beside me, Dean shifted a little, "Okay, awkward," He gently took a hold of my arm as he let out a low whistle, "We're gonna get a drink now." He was trying to diffuse the situation, but I didn't want it diffused. No, I wanted this Meg girl to say something else, to give me a reason to hit her. In the face. Her nose looked like a great target to me right now. Dean pulled at my arm as he started towards the bar, but I stayed rooted to the spot, keeping my gaze transfixed on the blonde pixie's. Dean paused and leaned down a little, I could feel his warm breath in my ear as he whispered to me, "Come on, Steph – remember what we were talking about earlier? Let's get back to that." His offer sounded appealing, sure... but so did punching Meg in the nose. I hesitated, torn for a moment, then I eased up and let Dean guide me away from Sam and his friend and through the crowd to the bar top.

Once we reached the bar Dean held up two fingers to the bar tender, he nodded and poured us both shots, I knew what they were before he even set them before us. I grabbed mine and took it quickly, ignoring the burn and enjoying the sensation of it, Dean reached for his but I picked it up and took that one too. "Whoa, easy there, Steph. Hold up on the reins a little." Dean joked. I shut my eyes and shook my head, I had hoped the alcohol would help quell my anger but instead it fuelled it. I held up two more fingers and the shot glasses were quickly replaced, "Steph," Dean had a more serious edge to his tone now, I ignored him and took both shots before the older Winchester could stop me, "Steph, stop."

I put the final shot glass down harder than the last, the edges of my vision had blurred a little, but my anger was clear. "I mean, who the hell does she think she is?" I exclaimed, my voice sounded a little off but nevertheless I continued, "Like; sorry Sammy for having a hard time to adjust to a whole new re-_fucking_-ality. Sorry Sammy I won't be able to hold my baby sister ever again, or hug my parents ever again, or-." My hands were moving animatedly as the words poured continuously out of my mouth.

Dean caught my wrists and held them as I stumbled a little, "Hey, hey, hey. It's ok, Steph." Dean assured me.

"Dean," My eyes widened as I leaned a little into him, "Dean, Dean, Dean," I stared into his impossibly green eyes.

Dean smirked, "Yeah, Steph?"

I awkwardly got my hands out of his grip and clumsily leaned forwards and placed them on his cheeks as I leaned up into his ear, "Let's get drunk." I whispered loudly.

Dean chuckled, "I think you're already drunk, Steph." I laughed, because his words sounded so funny, I kept giggling because I felt the anger disappearing as I continued. Instead, I turned and propped my elbow on the bar top, with my best dazzling smile I held up two fingers to the bartender. Another set of shot glasses were replaced and I leaned over the bar and awkwardly pecked him on the cheek as a thank you. Dean raised his eyebrow as I picked up one of the glasses, "Oh—I get one of these this time?"

I rolled my eyes and playfully pushed him on the shoulder, "Come _on_, Dean. Get drunk with me."

**T**

Several shots later, Dean and I were laughing near the pool table. "Steph, that is so _not _how you play pool." Dean smirked as I tried and failed for the sixth time to line the pool cue up with a blue striped ball.

"Shhh! I'm winning." I said childishly.

Dean laughed at my response, "Actually, I'm still waiting for you to make your first shot."

I looked back at Dean and raised my eyebrow, "Didn't anyone ever tell you, Sweetie? Timing, as they say, is everything." I slurred.

The older Winchester laughed again and leant his pole against the wall, "Ok, ok. Let me teach you, at least."

I scoffed, "Amateur."

Dean chuckled as stepped out to me and leant down on my right, "Ok, lets see here..." He placed his hand over mine on the pool cue and I grinned as his body touched mine, "Well, first things first, you're aiming for the wrong ball."

"What!" I protested as Dean guided me from the blue ball to the white ball.

"You hit the other balls with the white ball, Steph." Dean murmured in my ear, I giggled as he nipped at my ear lobe.

"You're distracting me." I pouted.

"No, actually, I'm not." Dean replied, his other hand stroking my hip, "Ok, now bring the cue back – we're gonna aim for the orange ball ok?" Dean held me close as I let him pull the cue back slowly, we both pushed it forward and the orange hit the wall and slowly rolled into the pocket.

I squealed in delight and jumped up and down, not having a care in the world when some people turned to look at us, I threw my arms around Dean and kissed him for more than allowed in public. "Did you see that?" I laughed happily as we pulled apart, "This calls for more shots."

Dean chuckled and I took hold of his hand and led him towards the bar eagerly, we slumped on the bar top and I whistled for the bartender, "Two more, Phil." I asked.

He rolled his eyes at me but his smile meant well, a few seconds later two glasses were set before us. "Now Steph, Steph, Steph – are you sure the best thing to be doing right now is more shots? I mean, we've had loads already..." Dean arched an eyebrow as he looked at me closely.

"Yes." I laughed and frowned at him, "Don't be a spoil sport, Dean."

We took another shot, and another, and another and another before I started to feel different, the room had started a slow, uneven rotation.

"Wait, wait, wait. I gripped Dean's arm as I struggled to stay upright, I think I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I slurred to a very blurred Dean.

"Ok, that's fine. I'll be here." Dean nodded.

I nodded too, liking my plan. "Which way is it again?"

Dean guided my towards a door after many stumbles and intoxicated collisions later, I pecked him on the cheek before walking into the door. _Smooth. _My hands roamed across the smooth surface until I finally gripped the door handle and twisted, the door swung open and I was suddenly thrown in, the door slamming shut as I was met with a tiled wall. It was nice in the bathroom, cooler than the almost unbearable heat of the bar. I sighed happily and pressed my back to the wall, sliding down it until I was in a sitting position with my knees still bent, suddenly feeling very tired, I pressed my cheek to the cold surface and shut my eyes.

**T**

_Dean's P.O.V_

As soon as Steph fell drunkenly into the bathroom I turned and scouted the room for someone, I smiled when I pinpointed him and moved across the bar towards him. "Hey, Sammy, how's it goin'?" I gave him a happy, uncaring smile as I sat down next to him.

"Hey, Dean. Where's Stephanie?" Sam replied.

I looked back at the bathroom, "She went to the bathroom."

"Uh-huh. She alright?" Sam grunted, I chuckled and leant closer to him.

"Dude she's so gone. I told you – tequila, man." I winked at him and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Right." My brother nodded, sounding disinterested.

"So, we gonna talk?"

"About..?" Sam inquired.

"You know." Sam's gaze suddenly snapped up to mine, and in his eyes I could see his mind was going at a mile a minute.

"I, uh," Sam shifted in his seat uncomfortably and composed himself, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I squinted at him, "You kidding me? Come on, Sam. We're all gonna sit down and talk about this... Just not right now, 'cause I'm drunk, Steph's drunk and you," I poked him in the shoulder, "Are acting weird."

A hand suddenly laid on my shoulder and I turned to see the bartender, "Hey, uh, buddy? You're girl's passed out in the bathroom." He jerked his thumb and I nodded.

"Right, right. And you want me to..."

"Dean!" Sam shot me a shocked look and I laughed.

"I'm just kiddin' around, Sammy. Come on, let's get little miss I-can't-hold-my-liquor and get back to the motel." I rolled my eyes and stumbled to me feet, "Cheers man," I reached into my pocket and handed him one of the fake credit cards we'd scammed last week, "This ought to cover it." I smiled as he took it.

Before he could respond, I walked past him with Sam, heading towards the bathroom. I flung open the door to find Stephanie leant against the wall, her head to the side and her dark hair draped over her face. I laughed when I saw her and struggled to the floor and sat next to her, "Dean, what are you doing?" Sam hissed as two women passed us out of the bathroom.

I ignored my brother and brushed the hair out of my girlfriend's face, she shifted a little, but other than that she didn't respond. "Steph? Steph! Come on, we gotta go. Get you in a motel bed, huh?" I brushed my thumb over her lip, this time her eyelids fluttered and she groaned.

"Dean?"

I smiled, "Yep, Steph. It's us."

Intoxicated dark eyes met mine and he lips creased into a smile, "Dean, the room's spinning."

I rolled my eyes, "That'll be the tequila talking." I joked, getting to my unsteady feet. The girl held her arms out and I took them and hauled her to her feet.

"Coat," She slurred, running a hand through her dark hair, "Anybody seen my coat?"

Sam held up Steph's beloved possession, "Right here, Steph."

She nodded, her eyes a little unfocused, "Excellent." She took a step towards the door, only to collapse and fall, instinctively Sam reached out and caught her just before she came into contact with the hard floor, "Ferris Bueller you're my hero." Stephanie joked as she turned away from Sam and grinned at me. My brother effortlessly picked her up and put her up right, he carefully removed his hands from her, she swayed and I lay a hand on her shoulder and carefully pulled, she fell back into my awaiting arms and I picked her up bridal style and held her close to my chest.

"Gee, Steph," I joked as we exited the bathroom, "Your balance really is terrible when you're drunk." The girl nuzzled into my chest as we got out of the bar, Sam draped her coat over her as we walked down to the end of the street where the car was parked.

The three of us were silent when we reached the car, Sam unlocked it for me and opened the backseat so I could carefully lay Steph across it, I then shut the door and walked around the car and slid into the backseat next to her. I rested her head on my lap whilst Sam got in the drivers seat. Sam finally broke the silence as he was parking the Impala outside the motel we were staying at, "She's really gone, huh." He observed when he turned around and finally looked at me.

"Yeah, and she's supposed to be Irish." I smirked and opened the door on my side and carefully lifted Steph out from the other side. Sam held the door open for us and I stepped through, the cold night air had sobered me up a little and my head felt a little clearer as I stood in the lobby waiting for Sam to finish booking a room.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I awoke to the sound of a door shutting and groaned as the noise reverberated around my head, "Oh my _God _my head." I moaned and pulled a pillow over it. Someone laughed and approached the bed I'd apparently been sleeping in.

"Morning, Lightweight." Dean's voice came cheerfully and far too loudly for me to deal with, I moaned again and tried to bury myself further into the bed.

"It's actually afternoon. It's just gone four." Another voice, Sam's, came from the far side of the room.

"Hear that, Steph? It means you've slept for a good fourteen hours straight." The pillow was suddenly removed and someone was ruffling my hair.

"Good! It means it'll be time for bed soon." I forced myself up and kept the covers wrapped around me like a huge blanket, I leaned back and my back found a wall. The cover was suddenly yanked away from me and I yelped at the bright lights piercing my vision and sending poundings up to my head. "Owww..." I squeezed my eyes shut. When I felt brave enough I cracked my eyes open a fraction, letting myself adjust to the room. Eventually I gave it the all clear I squinted at Dean, "Coffee. Do we have coffee?" I asked hopefully.

Dean sighed sadly, "Well, we did... but Sam finished it this morning," I groaned and Dean smirked, "But maybe if you'd have been awake in the morning like normal people are you'd have probably got some."

"Dean, stop it." Sam sighed and stood up from the chair he was sat on, he crossed over to the kitchenette and grabbed a bag of instant coffee out of a shopping bag and began filling up the kettle. Whilst Sam was making the coffee Dean slid on the bed next to me, I yawned and rested my cheek against his shoulder, "How much did we drink last night?"

Dean made an amused sound, "We?" He echoed, "Steph, you started drinking my shots, then you finally shared, then you tried your hand at pool – you're terrible at sports drunk, by the way. Then we had more shots-"

I cringed, "More shots?"

Dean laughed, "Yep. Then you disappeared to the bathroom, not ten minutes later the bartender was tapping me on the shoulder telling me you'd crashed in the bathroom."

"Oh God." I muttered, then I remembered something, "Did anyone happen to grab my coat?" I wondered.

Sam finished stirring the mug and bought it over to me, I forced myself to sit up and take the hot drink, giving him a grateful nod as he did so. "Yeah, it's still in the Impala." Sam replied as he walked over to his chair.

"Thanks, Sam." I muttered as I took another sip of my coffee, I sighed as the hot drink went down my throat, making me feel a little more human, "So, what's the plan for today?" I asked.

"We haven't really done that much today, we went for a little supply run earlier, but mostly we've just been trying to figure out this damn symbol." Sam responded, opening up his laptop and sighing frustratedly.

"So, today is research today?"

"Well, the rest of it is. Once you've recovered and had something that _isn't_ a white spirit, maybe we'll go for a little walk around the city late – me and you, huh?" Dean said, I nodded and focused on finishing my coffee.

**T**

An hour later I was feeling well enough to leave the bed and go get a much needed shower, after I'd brushed my teeth and done all my other girly habits I emerged fresh faced and feeling clean. Unfortunately, my good mood was dampened once I saw the boys at the table with a bag of takeout, the atmosphere was tense and static – they were arguing about something.

"Who the hell was she, Sam?" Dean demanded.

His brother pinched his nose, "I don't really know. I've only met her once. And meeting up with her again? I don't know, man, it's weird." He confessed.

"And what the hell was she saying last night about me and Steph?" Dean continued angrily, "How I treat you like luggage and Steph is so secretive it drives you crazy?"

"What's this?" I asked as I strode over, tilting my head in confusion and hurt as I looked at Sam imploringly.

The younger Winchester sighed, "It's nothing, Steph."

"He was bitching about us to some blonde chick." Dean pointed accusingly at his brother.

"What?"

"Look, I'm sorry. It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus sop in Indiana. But that's not important, just listen-"

Dean leant forward on his elbows, "Well, is there any truth to what she's saying? I mean, am I keeping you against your will, Sam?"

"And am I really so closed up about my past life that it bothers you so much to the point you go talking to a random stranger about me?" I looked at the younger Winchester with wide, searching eyes.

"No, of course not," Sam back-pedalled, "Now, would you please just listen?"

"What?" Dean prompted.

Sam leant back and sighed, pausing for a moment, "I think there might be something strange going on here, guys."

"Yeah, tell me about it – bitch was judging me before she even knew me." I scoffed.

"No, no. I mean – like our kind of strange. Like, maybe even a lead." Sam said.

I narrowed my eyes, "What makes you say that?"

Sam shrugged, giving one of his little lost puppy faces, "I met Meg weeks ago, literally on the side of the road. And now, I run into her in some random Chicago bar? The same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural, no less," He paused and glanced at Dean and I closely, "You don't think that's a little weird?"

"I dunno, random coincidence?" Dean guessed half-heartedly, "It happens."

"Yeah, it happens... but not us. Look, I could be wrong, all I'm saying is that there's something about this girl that I can't quite put my finger on." Sam explained, Dean snorted at the last part of his explanation.

"Well, I'd bet you'd like to," Dean teased, "Maybe she's not a suspect – maybe you've got a thing for her, huh?" I smiled a little when I felt the tension lifting, the younger Winchester rolled his eyes and laughed, Dean leaned in closer, "Maybe you're thinking a little too much with your upstairs brain, hey Sammy?"

Sam shook his head and tried to contain his grin. He failed. "No, but seriously. Can you both do me a favour and check and see if there's really a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts. Also see if you can't dig up anything on that symbol on Meredith's floor."

I frowned, "What are you gonna do?"

Sam looked at me deadly serious, "I'm gonna watch Meg."

Dean and I instantly glanced at each other and burst out laughing, Sam groaned and hid his face in embarrassment, "Haha, yeah you are." Dean chortled.

"I just wanna see what's what. Better safe than sorry." Sam defended quickly.

"Alright, you little pervert." Dean said, still smirking.

Sam gave him the bitchiest face I think I'd ever seen, "Dude."

His brother held his hands up, "Ok, ok. Get going then, lover boy." He teased.

Sam half-stormed towards the motel door, I grabbed his coat from the sofa and threw it to him, he caught it and swung it open, with a sigh he turned around to look at Dean and I – we were both trying and failing miserably to contain our childish grins, "You're both unbelievable."

**T**

Dean was dialling Sam's number whilst I was sat peering at the all-too-bright screen of Sam's laptop, "Let me guess," Dean smirked confidently beside me on the couch, "You're lurking outside that poor girl's apartment, aren't you?"

In the silence I could hear Sam's quick reply of, "_No_." Before an audible sigh and a "_Yes_."

"You've got a funny, but super creepy way of showing your affection, dude." Dean sighed as I clicked on a photo of Meg to enlarge it, along with a separate profile of official information of her.

"_Did you find anything on Meg, or are you just ringing me to piss me off?_" I heard Sam's annoyed reply.

I held my hand out and Dean passed me the phone, "Hey Sam, sorry to tell you this, but Meg is telling the truth. There is a Meg Masters in the Andover phonebook, I'm looking at one of her high school photos right now..." Dean tapped my shoulder and I trailed off, he motioned for the phone and I passed it back over to him.

"Now, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading, or whatever it is you do, huh?" The older Winchester teased him relentlessly.

Thankfully, Sam sounded like he'd ignored his last comment, the years of growing up with Dean proving to be an effective armour against his older brother's jokes, "_What about the symbol? Any luck?_" He asked.

"Yeah, we had some luck earlier with that," Dean started rifling amongst the small piles of paper a few hours of research had accumulated, when he found the piece of paper he wanted he used his shoulder to balance the phone so he could read it, "It turns out the symbol's Zoroastrian. Very, very old school – like two thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva."

There was a muffed reply on the end of the phone, but if I was allowed three guesses to guess what question Sam had just asked, I bet I knew I'd get the answer right. "It translates to 'demon of darkness'. They're Zoroastrian demons, and they're savage, animalistic... you know, nasty bastards with nasty attitudes."

"_\- Figure that all out?_" Sam's voice became clearer once Dean had put the papers down and was using his hands again.

"Give us some credit, man. You don't have a corner on paper chasing around here." Dean defended hotly.

Even on the phone, Sam's doubtful scoff was unmistakable, "_Oh yeah? Name the last book you read?_" He challenged.

Dean stared at me wide-eyed and I raised an eyebrow, I wasn't gonna help him out of this one. Eventually the elder Winchester sighed in defeat, "No. Look, we called Dad's friend – you know Caleb? He told us, alright?"

"_Yeah._" Sam replied, but he sounded distracted on the other end.

"Anyway, here's the thing: these Daevas, they have to be summoned – conjured." Dean continued, changing the subject.

"_So, someone's controlling it?_" Sam guessed.

"Bingo. And, from what Steph and I have gathered together, it's pretty risky business, too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And, uh, the arms... and torsos." Dean trailed off and swallowed heavily as he read off the page I'd printed and studied the diagram.

Sam sighed heavily, "_Great. What do they look like?_"

Even though his brother couldn't see, Dean shrugged, as clueless as Sam was, "Well, nobody knows what they look like. But Steph says that nobody's seen them for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient? Someone around here really knows their stuff. There's gotta be a major player in town... Now," Dean's tone suddenly changed, "Why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram?"

Sam groaned, "_Bite me._" He snapped.

Dean grinned, "No, bite her! Don't leave teeth marks, though-," There was a telling click and it went oddly quiet, Dean glanced at me and then smirked into the phone, "Sam?" Dean sighed and hung up the phone.

**T**

The motel door opened and Dean and I jerked awake, Dean was seated at one end of the sofa whilst my head was at the other end, my feet resting gently on his lap. Instinctively, I readied myself for any attacker, when someone suddenly flicked the lights on, revealing Sam. Everyone relaxed when we recognised who we were, although Sam looked a little shaken, "Dude. I gotta talk to you." Sam exclaimed.

I smiled, "Great, because we found out a little something earlier too."

**T**

"So," Dean said, after I had made three cups of coffee and Sam had told us about what happened whilst he was gone, "Hot little Meg is summoning the Daeva?"

Sam nodded miserably, "Looks like she was using that black altar to control the thing."

"So, Sammy's got a thing for a bad girl," I couldn't help the smirk that crept onto my face as I looked at the younger Winchester, Sam rolled his eyes at me.

"Steph, you've been spending _way _too much time with my brother." He scoffed.

"And tell us again about that goblet thingy?" Dean asked whilst I stuck my tongue childishly out at him.

"She was talking into it. The way witches used to talk into crystall balls or animal entrails. I think she was communicating with someone." Sam replied.

I cocked my head, "With who? The Daeva?"

Sam shook his head, "No. You guys said it yourself – those things were savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who's giving her orders. And that same someone's gonna come meet her at that warehouse."

I stood up from the sofa and picked up a couple of files Dean and I had gone through earlier, I took them back to the sofa and handed them to Sam. "We were meant to tell you this earlier, but we kinda fell asleep..." I murmured as Sam studied the files.

"What are these?" Sam asked as he frowned at them.

"They're the complete records of the two victims. And we're all idiots – we missed something out the first time round." I explained.

"What?"

"The first victim," Dean set down his coffee, "The old man – he spent his whole life in Chicago, but wasn't born here. Check out where he was born." He tapped the page that Sam was reading off.

"Lawrence, Kansas." Sam read, glancing up at us in amazement.

"Yep," Sam passed me back the first file and I gave him the second one, "And Meredith, second victim – she was adopted and also grew up in Chicago, but guess where she's from?" I arched an eyebrow and Sam peered at the page.

"Holy crap." Sam said, shocked.

Dean and I nodded, "Yeah."

Sam finally tore his eyes away from the page and up at us, "It's where the demon killed Mum – it's where everything started... You think Meg's somehow tied up with the demon?" He asked.

Dean nodded confidently, "I think it's definite possibility."

Sam sighed and put down the file, "But I don't understand. What's with the significance of Lawrence? And how do these Daeva things fit in?

Dean and I exchanged a look and shrugged simultaneously, "Who knows? But to be safe, we should go up to that warehouse, trash that black alter and have a little talk with sweet little Meg." I suggested.

"No," Sam disagreed, "No we can't. We shouldn't tip her off. We've gotta stake out that warehouse. We've gotta see who, or what, is showing up to meet her."

"Well, I know one thing: we shouldn't be doing this alone, that's for sure." Dean said.

**T**

Sam and I went downstairs to go get weapons to prepare us with Meg from the trunk of Dean's beloved car, whilst Dean stayed upstairs frantically calling his Dad to try and communicate with him. When Sam and I came back upstairs into the motel room, carrying bags upon bags of weapons, Dean was still on the phone. "...We think we've got a serious lead on the thing that killed Mum. So, uh, this warehouse – it's 1435 West Erie. Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can." Dean shut off the phone and Sam smiled a thin smile.

"Voicemail?" He guessed.

"Yeah." Dean didn't keep his gaze for long, I hadn't been around the boys for long – but I'd been around long enough to figure that whilst Dean idolized their father, Sam despised him for making him grow up as a hunter. After a moment of stiff silence Dean gestured to the bags that lay on the floor, "Jesus, what'd you two get?"

Sam looked at me and chuckled, "Steph and I basically ransacked that trunk. Holy water, every weapon that we could think of, exorcism rituals from about half a dozen religions... I guess we we decided that we're not sure what to expect, so we reckoned to go with the whole 'expect everything' gig." He explained, Dean nodded and the three of us began reloading all the guns and checking the ammo and knives.

Dean suddenly chuckled and let out a low whistle, "Big night."

"Yeah. You nervous?" Sam looked over to his brother with a challenging glint in his eye.

"No," Dean scoffed, "...Why, are you?" He asked.

"No? No! No way!" Sam chuckled and began reloading his gun a little faster, I stayed silent as I observed them, "God, could you imagine if we actually found that damn thing? That... demon?" Sam began, his voice laden with a dark desire I suspected he'd been honing for the past few weeks. It didn't surprise me, since he'd been obsessing over his girlfriend Jess ever since... that night. Or day, even.

"Hey, hey. Sam," The younger Winchester looked up at me, I gave him a warm smile and tapped his arm in a gesture of comfort, "Don't get too far ahead, ok?"

Sam nodded vigorously, "I know. I'm just saying... what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight?" He let out a wishful sigh, "Man, I'd sleep for a month. Go back to school – be a person again."

Dean stopped fiddling with the gun he was holding and stared at Sam in almost disbelief, "You – you wanna go back to school?"

Sam looked up at his brother innocently, I bit my lip subconsciously and paid every little piece of attention I had into the gun that lay in my hand. "Well yeah, once we're done hunting the thing." The younger Winchester nodded to his brother out of the corner of my eye.

Dean made a face and snapped the safety back on the gun furiously, "Huh."

"Why, is there something wrong with that?" Sam asked, an edge to his tone had set in – it was slight and hard to pick up, but it was there.

The older Winchester shook his head, a disbelieving smile edged onto his features, "No. No, it's, uh, great. Good for you." He said, clearly disheartened. He caught my eyes and I gave him a reassuring smile, but he looked back down at his gun.

"I mean, what are you two gonna do when it's all over?" Sam asked.

Dean finished with the gun and sighed, looking up at his brother sadly, "It's never gonna be over. There's gonna be others," His eyes shifted to me, "There's always gonna be something to hunt." He was guaranteeing it by saying it out loud. Like he was signing a deathly binding contract. The worse part was, I realised, was that he was right. There would always adversaries for us to take out, there would always be new enemies trying to beat us... _Even if there was still an us after this_.

That made me stiffen.

_Oh my God, what if when Sam goes we split up – what do I do then? Where do I go? _

Meanwhile I was living out this little crisis, Sam had abandoned the guns altogether and was looking at his brother in shock, "But there's gotta be _something _that you want for yourself -"

"Yeah, I don't want you to leave the second this thing's over, Sam." Dean cut him off with a sigh and crossed the room over to the dresser.

"Dude what's your problem?" Sam demanded angrily, Dean remained standing with his back to us, I had no clue as to what he was thinking about or feeling.

After twenty seconds dragged themselves by, Dean finally turned back to us, "Why do you think I drag you everywhere, huh? I mean, why do you think I came and got you at Stanford in the first place?"

Sam tilted his head, as if he was a little thrown by the question, "'Cause Dad was in trouble. 'Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mum."

Dean sighed again and I stayed quiet, Sam and I shared a glance before Dean spoke again, "Yes, that. But it's more than that, man," The older Winchester finally turned to us, his green eyes shining in the gloom, "You and me and Dad – I mean, I want us..." He shut his eyes, "I want us to be a family again," His confession slipped into the silence, he looked at his younger brother with an expression that reminded me of one that a child may give a parent or an older sibling. Then it hit me and my eyes widened: Dean wasn't _Dean _without Sam. He needed family, he knew he wouldn't be any good without his family. He knew it, and I think Sam knew it – and now I knew it too. "I want us to be a family again." Dean finished, his tone oddly quiet.

"Dean, we are a family. I'd do anything for you..." Sam trailed off and looked away, "But things will never be the way they were before."

The statement hung in the air with a heavy weight, it certainly crushed Dean – I'd never seen him look so broken before. Dean's jaw locked as he steeled himself, he gazed back at his brother in disagreement, "Could be." He argued, his tone hard but his eyes were wide with hope.

Sam shook his head, "I don't want them to be," He said firmly, "I'm not gonna live this life forever, Dean. When this is all over, you're gonna have to let me go my own way. You'll still have Steph, and Dad'll be with you. But I won't be."

**T**

"Which building is it, Sam?" I gestured to the line of buildings of the street Sam had directed us to. All of them looked in need of some money to brighten them up a little, they were run down and weary – dilapidated from years of neglect and the local crime of the city. Even as Sam led us down the street, there was a small group of figures looking at us. All of them were clad in hoodies and black masks that concealed their faces, as we passed by them I splayed my hand out wearily, detecting the air around us in case one of them moved towards us. Dean's hand snaked around my waist and he gently pulled me closer to him, I arched an eyebrow in response but he ignored my silent protest. "Here it is." Sam finally said, we stopped in front of an old, abandoned warehouse.

"Here?" I looked at him dubiously, "It's a little cliché, isn't it?" I smirked.

Sam shrugged, "Yeah, but it's difficult to get up to the room."

"Great." Dean sighed and approached the entrance, he tried the door but it wouldn't open, he crouched down and frowned at the gleaming silver padlock that had been put in place, "This here when you came last time?" He showed his brother the padlock, Sam shook his head and sighed.

"This is gonna be harder than I thought." He muttered.

I scoffed, "Guys, guys, who are you with? Just the only sorcerer in the world." I motioned for Dean to move away and I checked that there was no one around, I snapped my palm out and the door blew open with a gale force, I manipulated the air so it wouldn't clatter against the wall in case Meg was here already.

"That was -"

"Awesome!" Dean cut his brother off as he gave me a huge grin, "Aww man, I forgot you could do all that stuff."

I smiled back and Sam pointed to the stairs and then to his lips, we nodded and climbed the stairs, Ghastly's boots ensured that every step I took was silent. Once we reached the top of the stairs Sam led Dean and I towards an out of order elevator, he prised open the rusted doors and we entered the small metal box. Sam reached his arms up and grabbed a square of metal grating that was on the centre of the ceiling, he gently pushed and slid it out from it's holding. He grunted and handed it to his brother, Dean placed it in the corner and Sam jumped and hauled himself through the square. My mouth wet a little dry when I saw what he wanted us to do: he wanted us to crawl through the small hole, unconsciously I stepped back a little, unsure. I backed into Dean and whirled, relaxing when I saw who it was.

"Everything ok?" Dean asked, looking at me with concern.

I bit my lip, "Yeah, no everything's fine. It's just... that's a small hole..." I trailed off and eyed the hole nervously.

Dean followed my gaze, "Steph, that hole is, like, twice the size of Sam. You'll be fine, I'm right behind you, ok?" He guided me to where the hole was positioned above the ceiling, "Come on, compared to Sammy, you're tiny. Ready?" His hands found my hips, I nodded and took a deep breath. He lifted me like I was nothing and Sam reached over and hauled me the rest of the way up. I smiled in thanks and turned to help pull Dean up.

We stood up on the roof of the elevator and Sam pointed to a ledge that led into a room, "We gotta get up there." Sam said.

Dean clicked his tongue, "That's quite a leap, Sammy."

Sam shrugged, "Well, the way I came in last time was the same way Meg used, and we can't risk running into her."

Dean sighed and nodded, "Right. That's awesome," He said glumly, "Leap of faith it is then."

"Actually..." Sam turned to me and I tilted my head, "Steph, you've done it before – do you reckon you could, you know." He motioned to the ledge and I nodded.

"Sure, just hold still, ok?" I narrowed my eyes as I evaluated the ledge, Dean stepped away from Sam as his younger brother froze on the spot.

I snapped my palm and Sam rushed towards the ledge, my teeth absent-mindedly chewed my bottom lip as I slowed Sam's jump so he could land on the ledge properly. The younger Winchester landed on shaky legs and turned and gave the thumbs up, I turned to Dean. He sighed, "Just make sure I don't hit a wall or anything, ok?" His eyes flickered to my palms nervously, I smiled and he rooted to the spot. Once Dean was over I ran to the edge of the elevator and jumped, pushing at the air to boost me over to the boys, I landed easier than the boys had, gracefully landing in a crouch and straightening up.

The three of us crept quietly around the corner and crouched behind an overturned office desk, three pairs of pillars lined the room leading up to a raised space – I assumed the room to be a director's office or something. In the middle of the raised stage stood Meg, she was standing before a black alter like the one Sam had described, she was muttering some ancient language that I couldn't begin to guess at. After we had looked at Meg we all glanced at eachother and withdrew our guns, clicking them quietly in preparation.

Before we could eve think about moving, Meg looked up from the table, "Guys," She tutted clearly, "Hiding's a little childish, don't you think?" She was teasing us, even against the three of us, she knew she could take us.

"Well, that didn't work out like I planned." Dean didn't bother whispering, he rolled his eyes as he looked at us.

"Why don't you come out?" Meg called, the three of us emerged from behind the desk, guns raised and trained on her, somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if the guns would have any effect on her. "Sam, I have to say, this puts a real crimp in out relationship." The blonde sighed sadly.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Sam replied.

"So, Meg, we hear you're playing around with the Daeva." I gave her a smile.

Meg smiled back, "Mind telling us where they are? 'Cause that'd be just great." Dean's tone was deadpan.

"Around," Her smile grew wider, showing teeth, "You know, that shotgun's not gonna do much good on them."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. The shotgun's not for them." Dean replied with a cute grin.

"So who is it, Meg?" Sam called to the petite blonde, "Who's coming? Who are you waiting for?"

Meg laughed, "You." As if on signal, the shadows on the walls swarmed and suddenly Dean was knocked left and Sam and I were thrown to the right. Dean crashed into some forgotten crates and didn't get back up, whilst I scrambled to my feet and held out my hand to Sam. Once he was standing next to me we stood back to back, Meg stayed where she was, watching us with an amused look. The air shifted but I was too late; a shadow swiped and Sam cried out as I was taken off my feet and slammed into the wall, my head bashing against the hard plaster painfully, I crumpled to the floor as my vision went black.

**T**

I groaned as I came to, my hands were secured behind my back and I saw Dean tied to the pillar in front of me, Sam was restrained on the opposite side, all three of us had been positioned so we were facing the middle where Meg was. Dean sighed and tested a crick in his neck, "Hey, Sam? Don't take this the wrong way, or anything, but your girlfriend... is a bitch."

I stared at Meg, "This was a trap, wasn't it? Running into Sam at that bar, you knew he'd follow you here and see what you were doing... You set us up."

The girl grinned, as if I was playing a game with her, "And the victims from Lawrence?" Sam asked.

She glanced at Sam, "It doesn't mean anything. It was just to draw you in, that's all." She answered.

Sam's expression was disgusted, "You killed those two people for nothing."

"Baby, I've killed a lot more for a lot less." Meg replied.

"You trapped us. Good for you. It's Miller time," Dean's mouth curved into a sarcastic smile, "But why don't you just kill us already?"

The girl pouted as she walked over to Dean, "Not very quick on the uptake, are we?" She leant in closer and Dean didn't blink, "This trap isn't for you three."

The three of us frowned, then Sam sighed in realisation, "Dad. It's a trap for Dad."

Dean was quiet for a moment as he peered up at Meg, then he scoffed, "Oh, sweetheart," he drawled, "You're dumber than you look. 'Cause even if Dad was in town – which he isn't, he wouldn't walk into something like this. He's too good." He almost looked sorry for the girl, I shifted a little and felt the rope rubbing at my wrists, waiting for the window.

"He _is _pretty good. I'll give you that," She glanced back at me and gave me a smirk as she sat on Dean, straddling his legs and putting a hand on his chest I stiffened and narrowed my eyes: she was trying to rile me, to get me uncomfortable, "But you see, he has one weakness."

"And what's that?" Dean glared up at the girl.

Meg laughed, "You. He lets his guard down around his boys – lets his emotions cloud his judgement. I happen to know he's in town, and he'll come and try to save you..." Her hand slid up his chest slowly, "And then then Daevas will kill everybody – nice and slow and messy."

I sighed, "Come on, Meg. Think it's gonna take more than a _shadow _to kill us, don't you?" Meg turned and looked at me, "You see, I'm pretty sure we can all handle some..." I paused as Meg's hand found Dean's bare neck, her fingers danced below his jaw, "Shadow." I forced myself to finish.

Meg pushed herself off of Dean and stepped over to me, "Oh, sweetie, the Daeva's are in this room here," She crouched until she was at my eye-level and stroked my left cheek gently, "The shadows are the only part you can see." She said softly.

I narrowed my eyes as I stared up at her, "You have some issues, Meg." I said, trying to keep her attention on me whilst the boys silently conversed behind her.

Meg laughed, "That's cute. Wait 'till the boys know what you're really hiding, Valkyrie."

I blinked, thrown off, "What?"

"You heard me. Remember when you three stopped that demon on that airline? Guess who that was?" She grinned, flashing white teeth, "And you know something? I've been inside that pretty little head of yours. Oh, the things you've seen and done," Meg laughed and looked back at the boys, "You could write a book on the things she's done, seriously."

"I'm sure it would be a great read." I replied evenly.

Meg smirked, "Let's see," She stood up and began circling me slowly, "You were born Stephanie Edgely to loving parents Melissa and Desmond. You inherited your Uncle Gordon's estate and royalties when you were eleven when he died, and you stayed there but someone broke in, didn't they? You took a new name, became Valkyrie Cain and started saving the world, fighting monsters and even some Gods. It was going great, wasn't it? Until you ran into a few bumps on the road..."

I gritted my teeth, and looked away, "What is she talking about?" Dean asked.

Meg looked back at the older Winchester, "Didn't she tell you? All these people started having visions about dear little Valkyrie killing the world, although she told you that, didn't she? You've even met her, haven't you? I did." Meg looked down at me, "I wanna meet her again. Darquesse. She looked like a _lot _of fun, honey. And you barely have the lid on her, don't you?" My jaw clenched and she laughed, "I knew it! I could feel it, inside your head... she can't _wait _to come out and play, can she? I bet you can hear her sometimes, whispering all these dirty little thoughts into your ear?"

"Why are you doing this, Meg?" Sam called, "What kind of deal have you got working here? And who with?"

Meg sighed and stepped away from me, I breathed more regularly as she walked away, "I'm doing this for the same reasons you do what you do," Meg shrugged innocently, "Loyalty, Love... like the love you had for Mummy," Sam stiffened, "And Jess."

"Go to hell." Sam snapped.

"Baby, I'm already there." She assumed the same position she had on Dean, "Come on, Sam. There's no need to be nasty," She leant forward on top of him and whispered into his ear loud enough for everyone to hear, "I think we both know how you really feel about me. You know, I saw you watching me – changing in my apartment. Turned you on, didn't I?"

Dean groaned loudly, "Oh, get a room, you two."

"I didn't mind," Meg continued, unperturbed, "I liked that you were watching me. Come on, Sammy. You and I can still have a dirty little fun." She began kissing Sam's neck slowly.

"You wanna have fun? Go ahead then, I'm a little tied up now." Sam replied, I frowned at his response and glanced at Dean, he mouthed to me silently.

_You ok?_

I nodded in response, Dean nodded at my answer.

_I've got a knife, it's gonna be ok._

I offered him a shaky smile and Dean frowned a little as his hands moved behind his back, the knife Dean was holding fell from his grip and he closed his eyes, Meg stopped kissing Sam and stood up, narrowing her eyes as she approached Dean. She went behind him to see what he was doing and bent down and snatched the knife from his grip and flung it in the corner, she then swung around the post and gave Dean a smile, he chuckled guiltily in return but she was already moving back to Sam.

"Now, were you just trying to distract me whilst your brother cut free?" Meg asked, tracing a finger down Sam's cheek.

"No. No... that's because I have a knife of my own." Meg frowned and Sam grabbed Meg's shoulders, I clicked my fingers and burnt through my bindings as Sam smacked his head against Meg's, she fell to the floor and Sam groaned in pain.

I stood up and ran over to Dean, "Sam! Get the alter." I said as I crouched in front of Dean's hands, "Hold still." I warned and clicked my fingers, making sure the flame didn't touch Dean as it burnt through the ropes. I looked up when the alter crashed to the floor, stepping away from Dean as a shadow lunged off the wall and aimed straight for Meg, something latched onto her leg and she screamed as the shadow dragged her across the floor, her hands scratched uselessly on the wood. Her body was flung at the window and the shadow disappeared, Meg crashed through and screamed as she fell to the street below.

Dean approached me and pulled me into a tight hug, whilst Sam crossed over to the broken window and peered down, "Gross." He muttered, then turned back to us.

"I guess the Daeva's didn't like being bossed around." I shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess not..." Dean brushed a loose strand of hair from my face, "Hey, Sam?"

"Hm?" Sam looked up at his brother.

"Next time you wanna get laid, find a girl that's not so buckets-o'-crazy, huh?" He smiled and walked over to where Meg had put our guns.

I looked at Sam and gave him a small smile, "So..." I started, "Looks like you got some information on me."

Sam gave a short laugh, "Yeah... So what's with Valkyrie Cain?" He asked.

I shrugged, "It felt right."

Sam nodded as Dean walked back over to us, "I kinda like it." He grinned, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"I'm glad." I rolled my eyes, "It's not like I've used it recently."

Dean's hand snaked around my waist and he pulled me closer into his jacket, with his other hand he handed Sam two guns and sighed, "You know, that was a little anti-climatic if you ask me, I mean – I was expecting to be ripped to shreds, not watch Sam get a lap dance and a make out session from Miss Crazy." I laughed and then suddenly caught sight of something red that must have fallen from the table when Sam turned it over.

"Is that a human heart?" I frowned.

Sam looked round and then back to me, "Daeva rituals, I guess."

"That's disgusting." I nodded grimly.

"Yeah... we good to go?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded, "Yep, let's get outta here."

**T**

The three of us walked down the hallway of the motel towards our room, "I still don't get it – why didn't you just leave all that stuff in the car?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed, "I said it before, and I'll say it again – better safe than sorry, Dean." We reached the door and Dean unlocked it, we entered loudly and tensed when we saw the silhouette of a man standing by the window.

"Hey!" I shouted, Sam turned on the light and the man turned around. He was wearing an old leather jacket, similar to the one Dean wore, with faded jeans and boots.

"Dad?" Dean said in disbelief.

The man smiled, "Hey, boys." Dean left my side and walked towards the man, John enveloped his son into a long, emotional hug. That hug gave me the idea of the type of relationship Dean had with his father, I glanced at Sam and my heart broke a little for him: he was staring at his brother and father with a sadness in his eyes, one that looked like it'd been there before many times. Once the two men broke apart, John turned to Sam and I, "Hi, Sam."

"Hey, Dad." Sam said softly, he didn't go to hug his father like Dean did.

John looked at me and narrowed his eyes as he looked me up and down, "And who's this?" He asked, looking at his sons.

"Dad, this is Stephanie. She's been helping us out and travelling with us. She's a hunter – of sorts." Dean explained.

John nodded at his answer, but he didn't take his eyes off me. I tilted my head as he stared: he seemed a little cautious of me. _Maybe he knows about you. _

Sam placed the weapons on the floor loudly and cleared his throat, Dean looked at his Dad with wide eyes, "Dad, it was a trap. I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"It's alright," John replied, "I thought it might've been."

Dean tilted his head, "Were you there?"

John nodded, "Yeah, I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?" He checked, his eyes flickering to me for a split second.

"Yes, sir." The boys said together, I looked at them in shock.

"Good. Well, it doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before." John replied.

"The demon has?" I asked.

John nodded, I was surprised he'd answered me, "It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell – actually kill it."

"How?" Dean asked.

John smirked, reminding me vaguely of Dean's, "I'm workin' on that."

"Let us come with you. We'll help." Sam offered eagerly. Dean looked at Sam and gave him a warning look, I tapped his arm to make him stop.

"No, Sam. Not yet. Just try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch, I don't want you caught in the crossfire. I don't want you hurt." John shook his head.

Nevertheless, Sam scoffed, "Dad, you don't have to worry about us."

"Of course I do. I'm your father," He paused and took a breath, "Listen, Sammy. Last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."

Sam stiffened and nodded once, "Yes, sir."

"It's good to see you again. It's been a long time." John continued.

"Too long." Sam nodded again, John stepped forward and embraced his son. I glanced at Dean and he smiled warmly at his brother and Dad. When they finally broke apart Sam's eyes were shining with tears.

The air shifted angrily behind me and I turned, "Dean!" I shouted, shoving him out of the way of a shadow, Dean stumbled away and I was thrown into the cabinets of the kitchenette.

"Steph!" Dean moved towards me just as John was attacked, the shadow creature yanked him away from Sam and threw him into a wall. More shadows swarmed at the walls in the moonlight and Sam crashed to the floor, "No!" Dean managed before he was flung carelessly at the opposite wall.

I cried out as something clawed at my neck, four long cuts appeared out of nowhere, across the room I heard someone else yelling in pain. Through the haze of the pain and the crazy black flashes of the shadows flitting across the room I saw Sam crawling towards the bag he had dropped earlier, my back arched in pain as something yanked at my hair, I felt five cold claws pierce the back of my neck. I felt pressure on my arms and shoulders, they slowed a little – as if they were confused why they couldn't cut through my jacket. "Shut your eyes!" Sam yelled, "These things are shadow creatures, so let's light 'em up!" I glimpsed a flare in his hand and covered my eyes with my arm. An inhuman scream tore through the room, the air shifted wildly against my palm as something was exiled from the room. I stood up on shaky legs and leant against the cabinets I had been thrown into, I saw two silhouettes stumbling and spluttering around the room.

"Dad!" Dean called, worry edging his tone.

"Over here!" John coughed a reply, someone moved towards the voice and someone else approached me.

"Steph, are you ok?" It was Sam, I nodded and looked up at him through the gloom.

"Oh my God, Sam – your face." I reached up and touched his face tentatively, three gashes had been raked down his left cheek – much like Munroe had done to me two weeks ago.

Sam jerked away from my touch, "It's ok. I'm ok." Sam assured me, moving back to pick up the duffel bag.

"Come on, we gotta go." John said, looking at Sam and I before leaving.

Sam left first, then Dean moved towards me, "Steph, you're hurt." Dean said, I felt my neck carefully and looked at the warm blood on my hand.

"It's fine. It's not deep." I gave him a small smile and frowned when I saw his shoulder. His shirt had been torn on his right arm, the material stained dark in places. "Are you ok?" I asked, eyeing his arm.

Dean shrugged, "I'll be fine, It's not too bad."

"Ok." I sounded unsure.

Dean grabbed my hand and led me from the room, "Come on, Sam and Dad are probably waiting for us." He said.

**T**

We found Sam and John in an alleyway next to the motel, Sam was busy putting the duffel bag into Dean's car, whilst John was leaning against his truck. "Alright," Sam shut the trunk of the car, "Come on, we don't have much time. They'll be back soon, I know it."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Dean walked over to Sam, "Sam, wait. Dad, you can't come with us." He looked at his Dad with a sad realisation.

Sam and I frowned, "What?" Sam asked.

"Dean, what are you talking about?" I said, not two seconds after Sam.

"You three – you're beat to hell." John frowned at his eldest son, glancing at Sam's face and my neck.

"We'll be alright." Dean assured him.

"Dean, we should stick together, we'll go after those shadow demons -"

"Sam! Listen to me!" Dean shook his head as he cut his brother off sharply, "We almost got Dad killed in there, don't you understand? They're gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right: Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He's – he's stronger without us around." Dean explained, giving his brother a look.

"Dad, no," Sam ignored Dean and stared at his father, he put a hand on John's shoulder, "After everything – after all that time we've spent looking for you – please. I've gotta be a part of this fight." Dean watched his younger brother sadly, I stayed quiet, not wanting to intervene.

John sighed and looked away from Sam's eyes, "Sammy, the fight is just starting," John glanced at me, "And we're all gonna have a part to play. But for now, you've got to trust me, son." Sam shook his head, his eyes brimming, "Ok, you've gotta let me go." Silence settled as John's words were absorbed by everyone. Sam sighed and let go of his father's shoulder, Dean moved back and stood next to me, his hand on the small of my back. John looked at us and then stared at his son. John walked over to his truck and opened the driver's door, with one last look at the three of us, he got in. The truck roared to life and the window slid down, "Be careful, you three." John warned, then the truck drove off.

We watched the truck until it went around the corner, I leant into Dean, suddenly exhausted. His hand moved up my back and around my shoulders, "Come on." He sighed, taking charge, we moved towards the car in silence, and five minutes later we were on the road.


	17. Chapter 17

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter 17 – Hell House**

**Author's Note:**** Hey guys! Sorry for the extremely late updates – they've been pretty sparodic lately. Also, my laptop is seriously breaking at the moment and I spent the about five hours last night trying to figure out how to upload it. I sent it to my phone and because it was like 15'000 words my phone wouldn't upload it to the document thingy. I know you guys are waiting for Darquesse and don't worry – I've got loads of ideas written down for Valkyrie. **

_Valkyrie's P.O.V _

"Texas is boring." I sighed as I looked out the window of the car as nothing but trees and fields passed by us. Sam was asleep, his huge frame slumped awkwardly in the passenger seat next to Dean. _Fire of Unknown Origin _by _Blue Oyster Cult _was playing on the radio, it was loud enough for me to hear every word, but Dean had turned it down to let Sam sleep.

"Mmm," Dean agreed, concentrating on driving the car at his ridiculous speed, "Hey, Steph, pass me the takeout box from last night."

"Why?" I asked, handing him the empty pie carton Dean ate last night. Dean opened it with one hand and took the white plastic spoon. He glanced at the road and then turned to his brother, carefully he slipped the spoon into Sam's open mouth and wedged it between his teeth. Sam shifted in his sleep a little but he didn't awaken, Dean looked back at me and I couldn't help but share his grin. Dean flipped open the phone and gave it to me, I clicked the camera and took a picture of Sam, then I turned the phone and posed with the sleeping Winchester.

I handed Dean the phone back and he turned up the radio, "Fire of unknown origin took my baby away!" He sung along to the lyrics loudly, Sam jerked awake and spat the spoon out in disgust, Dean drummed along in time to the music, bashing an imaginary symbol above his head.

I laughed from the back seat as Sam leant forward and turned down the radio, he turned and gave Dean and I a sour look, "Ha ha, very funny." He drawled sarcastically.

"Heh heh, sorry, not a lot of scenery here in East Texas," Dean chortled, "You kinda gotta make your own."

Sam sighed, "Come on guys. We're not kids. And Dean, we're not going to start that crap up again?"

"Start what up?" Dean asked, whilst I leant forward curiously.

"That prank stuff. It's stupid, and it always escalates." Sam snapped.

"What prank stuff?" I asked.

Sam sighed, "When Dean and I were younger, we pulled a few tricks on eachother. It started out with silly, mindless jokes," Sam shot a glare at his brother, "And then it got way outta hand."

Dean smirked, "Aww, what's the matter, Sammy – scared you're going to get a little Nair in your shampoo again, huh?"

"You really did that?" I widened my eyes at the older Winchester.

"Alright, just remember you started it." Sam warned.

Dean brushed his brother off with a chuckle, "Ah ha, bring it on, Baldy."

Sam scoffed and glanced out of the window, "Where are we anyway?"

"A few hours outside of Richardson," Dean replied, "Hey Steph, give me the lowdown again?"

I picked up the newspaper and flipped it open to the article, "Umm, lets see... About a month ago some kids went snooping inside this local haunted house." I gave the boys the cliff notes.

"Haunted by what exactly?" Sam asked.

"Apparently, a pretty misogynistic ghost. According to this legend, it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters... the paper says that these kids went in this house and find this dead girl hanging up in the cellar." I replied.

"Nice," Dean sent me a grimace in the rear view mirror, "Anyone ID the corpse?"

"Hang on a sec," I scanned the article, "By the time the kids had called the police and they got there the body was gone. So the authorities are saying the kids were just kidding around."

Dean shrugged optimistically, "Maybe the cops are right."

"Maybe, but Sam and I read a few of the eyewitness accounts last night, they seemed fairly sincere." I responded, glancing out the window again.

"Uh-huh, and where did you two read these accounts?"

Sam and I shared a glance, "Well, I knew we were going to be passing through Texas. So, umm, last night, me and Steph surfed some local... paranormal websites. And we found one." Sam said quickly, too embarrassed to meet his brother's gaze.

Dean sighed and shook his head, "And what's it called?"

" ." Sam muttered.

The older Winchester scoffed, "Let me guess, streaming live out of Mum's basement?"

Sam grinned, "Yeah, probably." He snickered.

"You know, most of these websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit them in the ass." Dean pointed out.

"Look," Sam glanced at his brother seriously, "We let Dad take off – which was a mistake, by the way. And now we don't know where the hell he is, so in the meantime we've got to find ourselves something to hunt, and there's no harm in checking this thing out."

Dean glanced as his brother, unconvinced, "Alright. So where do we find these kids?"

"Same place you always find kids in a town like this." Sam shrugged.

**T**

It was night time by the time we reached the town, Dean drove straight through it to the fast food outlet called **RODEO DRIVE**, "Ok," Dean said as he parked the car, "We're gonna split up and interview the kids, see what they've gotta say about their, uh, hell house experience. We'll meet back here in a bit, ok?"

I sat directly opposite a pretty blonde girl with pink glossed lips and curled blonde hair, "So what can you tell me about that night you and your friends went to that old house, Sophie?"

The girl threw her hands on the tabletop dramatically, "Oh my God – it was the scariest thing I ever saw in my life, I swear to God," The blonde said with wide, sky blue eyes. I opened my mouth to compose a question but she was gone, "The walls in the house they were painted in red," Sophie glanced around then she leaned in closer to me, "I think it was blood." She whispered.

I stared at her for a long, drawn out moment, "Right. Was the, uh, blood painted into anything, like words or-"

"Yeah, totally! Symbols, like..." Her brow furrowed as she concentrated, "All these freaky symbols, pentagons, crosses and stars." She tossed her curls over her shoulder, "Whatever – I had my eyes closed the whole time."

"Wait, what?" I frowned in confusion.

"But I can tell you this, no matter what anybody else says... that poor girl, with the red hair. Just hanging there," I raised an eyebrow and she looked deep into my eyes, "She was real, I swear." She said earnestly.

I nodded slowly, "Ok, just one more thing. How did you find out about this place?"

"Craig took us." Sophie replied.

"Craig who?"

"Thurston. He works down at the local record store, like four minutes from here." The girl's phone beeped and she whipped it out and began pressing on the button pad frantically.

I smiled thinly, "Thank you for your time, Stacey."

"Sophie." The girl corrected without looking up.

"Right, sure."

**T**

"That was probably the most annoying conversation I've ever had in my life." I rolled my eyes as I met up with the boys outside, they were both leaning against the car, Dean was holding a take-away drink cup.

"Yeah, looks like these kids are either faking, or-"

"Or something's actually going on in that house." Sam cut Dean off with a nod.

"The boy who told them about it, Craig Thurston – he works at the local record store in town." I offered helpfully.

Dean nodded, "Sweet. We'll hit the store in the morning. I saw a motel when we drove into town, I say we go get a room and start again in the morning."

**T**

We entered the record store quietly, _The Jack _by _AC/DC _was playing in the background, aisles upon aisles of records and CDs were stacked neatly in alphabet order, on the wall were T-Shirts and posters of some bands I recognised, some bands I didn't. "Hey guys," A boy from behind the counter greeted us cheerily, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, actually. Are you Craig Thurston?" Sam asked.

The boy nodded, "I am."

"We're reporters with the _Dallas Morning News_," Dean lied smoothly, "I'm Dean, this is Sam and

that's Stephanie."

"No way," Craig grinned enthusiastically, "I'm a writer too, I write for my school's magazine."

"Well, good for you, Morissey." Dean muttered, I grinned at _The Smiths _reference as I scanned the nearest record aisle.

Craig frowned at Dean and opened his mouth, but I distracted him quickly, "We're doing an article on local hauntings and rumour has it you might know of one."

The boy forgot Dean and smiled, "You mean the Hell House."

I nodded, "That's the one."

Craig shrugged coolly, "I didn't think there was anything to the story."

"Well, why don't you tell us the story?" Sam suggested.

Craig shrugged again, "Supposedly back in the '30s this farmer, Mordechai Murdoch, used to live in this house with his six daughters. It was during the Depression, his crops were failing. He didn't have enough money to feed his own children, so I guess that's when he went off the deep end."

I frowned and tilted my head, "How?"

The boy scratched the back of his neck as he concentrated, "Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick, rather than starve to death. So he attacked them, they screamed, begged for him to stop but he just strung them up, one after the other, and when he was all finished he just turned around and hung himself. Now, they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any other girl that goes inside."

"And where'd you hear all this?" Dean's brow furrowed.

"My cousin Dana told me, I don't know where she heard it from," Craig switched his gaze from the boys to me, "You've gotta realise, I – I didn't believe this for a second."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "But now you do."

The boy sighed tiredly, "I don't know what the hell to think, man. Look, I – I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, ok? That girl – she was real, and she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God. I don't wanna go anywhere near that house ever again, ok?"

I nodded slowly, "Ok, well," My gaze flickered to Sam and then back to Craig, "Thank you for your time, you've been a, uh, a great help."

**T**

Later that day, the three of us clung onto eachother as we battled through thick, sludgy mud and unkempt bracken to get to the infamous 'Hell House', the house itself was barely a house, it was in near ruin, made entirely of rotting wood, barely maintaining it's structure. "Well, I can't say I blame the kid. I don't think if I had the choice I'd want to go near this house again." Sam sighed as we neared the decaying porch.

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "So much for curb appeal."

"Mmm," I nodded, "Who's got the EMF meter?" I asked.

Dean dug around in his jacket pockets until his hand emerged gripping his home-made meter, Sam pulled out a torch and he nodded to me, "Alright, we'll stick together and comb through the house, check out what this Mordechai is really hiding up in his rafters." He said.

"Sounds good." Dean murmured as we climbed the porch steps and tried the tired door handle, the aged door creaked and groaned as it eased itself open slowly.

"Very cliché." I rolled my eyes as we stepped through into the house. Sam clicked on his torch whilst I clicked my fingers, Dean's EMF reader buzzed neutrally as he waved it around the room.

"You got something?" Sam asked his brother hopefully as I squinted at the peeling paint and festering mould creeping on the floorboards and parts if the ceiling.

"Nah. The EMF's no good." Dean sighed and pocketed the device.

"Why?" I frowned at the older Winchester, tearing my eyes away from an unsavoury stain marking the wall.

Dean pointed out the window at the overhead powerlines outside the ramshackled house, "It's the powerlines. The electricity in them's screwing with all the readings." He explained.

Sam joined us at the window and nodded, "Yeah, that'd do it."

"Yeah..." Dean let out a low whistle, "Come on, let's move."

We moved into the next room and were greeted with several symbols, painted in black, not red like Sophie had claimed. "Seems like Mordechai was a sort of art enthusiast in his time." I observed quietly, the orange glow from the flame in my hand warming the room.

"And after his time too," Sam pointed to a symbol on the wall, "That reverse cross has been used for centuries," His finger moved and pointed to another, "But this sigil of sulphur didn't show up in San Francisco until the 1960s."

"And _that_, Sammy, is exactly why you never get laid." Dean drawled, a smile edged on my mouth as I tried not to laugh, something caught Dean's eye and he crossed the room and looked at a certain symbol on the wall, "Hey, what about this one? Have you seen this one before?" It was a cross with a dot in the middle of it, the bottom part of the cross looked like an upside down question mark.

Sam and I came over to inspect the symbol further, "No." The younger Winchester shook his head.

"I have... somewhere." Dean murmured.

"Huh, it does look a little familiar I guess." I said softly, narrowing my eyes and tilting my head curiously.

Sam reached out with his huge hands and rubbed the symbol, "It's paint. Seems pretty fresh too."

"Ah, guys," Dean sighed and looked at Sam and I, "You know I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind, but... the cops may be right about this one."

Sam and I exchanged a look and Sam shrugged, "Yeah, maybe."

A banging noise on the other side of the door made us all jump, the three of us split off and moved to either side of the door, Sam positioned himself in front of me as I moved my other palm out and read the air carefully, "Someone's coming." I whispered. The doors burst open but I couldn't see anything past Sam, the floor and walls were suddenly lit up by a brilliant white light and the boys groaned and hid their eyes from the sudden intense white.

"Oh, cut, cut. It's just a few humans." One of the guys said, upon recognising a person I quickly snuffed out the flame in my palm.

There was a pause and then a _click_, the beams that had illuminated the walls and floor suddenly vanished and I peered around Sam to make out two male figures in the gloom. One of them was holding an expensive looking video camera whilst the other was holding some lights that looked like they belonged on a film set or a truck.

"What are you guys doing here?" The same guy asked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean countered.

"Err, heh," The same guy replied sarcastically, "We belong here, we're professionals." He stated plainly, as if it was obvious that he and his friend were meant to be here.

"Professional what?" Dean asked, his tone suggesting his patience was running out, I stepped out from behind Sam and the two strangers froze.

"Ed there's a girl here." The man with dark hair looked at his friend, suddenly nervous.

"I know that, Harry." His friend, Ed, replied.

"Ed, she's — she's _hot_." Harry spluttered, I nodded and rolled my eyes at the boys.

"I'm sorry – just who the hell are you people?" Dean snapped.

The man with glasses – Ed, sighed and pulled out three business cards and gave them to us, "Paranormal Investigators, here you go. Take a look at that then, huh." He said proudly.

"Oh, you've _got _to be kidding me." Dean frowned as we read the cards.

"Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler?" Sam looked up at them.

" ," I read and glanced up at the two 'paranormal investigators', "You guys run that website."

Ed puffed out his chest as he looked at me, "So, you know about us." He eyed me for a longer time than normal.

Dean stepped over to me and stood beside me. It was a protective stance, but it wasn't overbearingly protective, "Oh yeah, we're _huge _fans." He drawled sarcastically.

"And we know who you three are too." Ed replied.

The three of us stiffened simultaneously, "Oh yeah?" Sam scoffed, looking at Harry and Ed sharply.

"Amateurs," Ed answered, Dean immediately lost interest next to me, "Looking for ghosts and cheap thrills."

Harry nodded beside him, "Yep. So if you three don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here."

"Yeah, what have you got so far?" Dean challenged.

Ed turned to his partner, "Harry, why don't you tell 'em about EMF?" He prompted.

Harry took a sharp intake of breath as he mulled it over, "Well..."

I glanced at the brothers and fought down a smile as I played dumb, "EMF?" I echoed, feigning confusion.

"Electromagnetic field, Sweetie. Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read with an EMF detector," He held up a black device with two LED bulbs on the end of it, "Like this bad boy right here." He turned it on for emphasis, and I smirked up at Sam beside me as the two strangers peered down at their contraption. "Woah, woah – it's 2.8mg!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.

"2.8? It's hot in here." Ed smirked up at me and my eyes narrowed a fraction.

"Wow, that's... that's real interesting." Sam looked at me and I nodded in agreement whilst Dean gave a low whistle in admiration.

"Huh," The older Winchester said, "So you guys ever really seen a ghost before, or..."

"Once," Ed nodded eagerly, "We were, uh – we were investigating this old house and we saw a vase fall right off the table."

"By itself." Harry finished in a serious tone.

"Uh-huh." I stared at them both dubiously.

"Well, we, we – we didn't actually see it, we heard it. And something like that..." Ed paused for effect, "It changes you."

"Yeah," Dean nodded slowly, "I think I get the picture," He glanced at us, "We should go, let them get back to work."

"You should." Ed nodded professionally.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly, "Steph. Sam." He prompted.

I shot Dean a glance as we turned to leave, "You're kidding me." I breathed in his ear as he walked over to me. Dean shrugged and we left quickly, passing those two morons as we exited the room.

"Yeah, work." Harry muttered.

"Hey dude, that pot we smoked earlier was wild." Ed suddenly giggled, Sam raised his eyebrows at us as we left the so called _professionals _to it.

"So... what to we do now?" I asked as we walked back out of the house and went down the creaky porch steps.

"Hit the books, try and see if we can find any proof that there was actually a Mordechai Murdoch who lived in this town." Sam replied.

I nodded, "Great." I said unenthusiastically, mustering up a smile.

"I think I'm gonna hit up the police station, try and see if I can get a proper identification on the girl who those kids saw," Dean stretched and looked at us, "What do you think? Sam hits the library whilst me and Steph go to the station?" Sam shrugged.

"And leave Sam with all that research by himself?" I frowned, "No, I'll go with Sam for a change, help him out in the library."

Sam tilted his head, "Steph, you don't have to-."

"It's not fair otherwise," I insisted, "Why? You scared of being alone with me, Sammy?" I cracked a smile.

Sam stared at me for a long time, "No, of course not." He smiled back and shook his head quickly.

Dean shrugged, "Ok, I'll drop you two off at the library and hit the station."

**T**

An hour had passed since Sam and I had sat down at the table with a pile of books surrounding the town in the 1930s. I was halfway through reading one of the books when I felt someone's eyes lingering on me, I looked up and saw Sam staring at me. "What?" I asked, tilting my head slightly and narrowing my eyes, a smile played at the corners of my mouth.

Sam's gaze dropped down to the book he was supposed to be studying, "Nothing, nothing." He muttered.

I raised an eyebrow and turned my attention back to the book, I counted the seconds in my head. One, two, three, fo-

"Hey, Steph?" Sam finally broke the silence.

I smiled to myself and looked up at him, "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?" He asked.

I narrowed my eyes teasingly at Sam, "You wanna try to get to know me again, Winchester?"

Sam grinned down at his book, his cheeks flushing a little, "No, no... not unless you're uncomfortable with it..." He trailed off and looked out the window awkwardly.

I stared at the guy for a long time before I set the book down with a sigh, "Ok," I shifted the chair round until I was next to him, "What do you want to know?"

"Alright umm, tell me if it gets a little personal, ok?" Sam's dark eyes looked deep into mine, "When Meg was saying all that stuff in that warehouse when we were all tied up, was that all true?" I nodded honestly, "Even that stuff about Darquesse?" I froze.

_Oooh, busted._

The seconds dragged by as I bit my lip, ignoring that damn voice in my head. "Is – is that a yes?" Sam peered at me.

I exhaled deeply, "Oh, Sam.. This... other person inside my head – I'm doing ok with her." I said, picking my words carefully.

"And by doing ok, you mean..."

_It means that you're being lied to, Sam. _

I forced a smile on my face, "I mean that there's nothing for you to worry about, Sam."

_Liar liar..._

Sam leant on his hand as he studied my poker face, "Steph, you know Dean and I can help you if you, uh, feel yourself slipping, ok?" He said softly.

I nodded, not trusting my mouth.

**T**

Not forty minutes later were Sam and I closing the library doors and walking over to where Dean was leaning against his car. "Hey. What you got?" Sam greeted as we approached.

"There's no matching missing persons on that dead girl that those kids found, it's like she never existed. What about you two?" Dean replied, looking at Sam and I.

"Well, Steph and I couldn't find a Mordechai but we _did _find a Martin Murdoch who lived in that house in the '30s. He did have children but only two of them, both boys. Also, there's no evidence that he ever killed anyone." Sam shrugged.

"Huh," Dean ran a hand through his hair, "Come on, guys. We've done our digging, let's just admit that this one's a bust. I mean – for all we know those Hell-Hounds-Lair boys made up the whole thing."

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

Dean shrugged, a smirk creeping onto his face, "I say we find ourself a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals." He suggested, he turned and opened the door to the driver's seat, I moved to get in the back, but Sam held his arm out and stopped me.

"Wait, wait, wait." Sam muttered to me, keeping his eyes on his brother.

"Sam, what are you doing?" I frowned.

"Just wait for it, ok?" He said, leaning down until he was eye-level with me. I followed his lead and watched as Dean turned on the ignition and instead of the usual classic rock playing through the radio, an odd latino pop music sounded through the speakers – and it wasn't at quiet background level either. I started laughing as people stopped and turned in the direction of the noise, Dean frantically tried to shut it off, but only managed to turn on the windscreen wipers instead.

"Whoa! What the fuck?" Dean exclaimed as he finally turned everything off, Sam and I got into the car laughing. Sam licked his finger and put it in the air like a 'one', then he pointed to himself and grinned at his brother.

Dean shot his brother a dirty look, "That's all you got?" He challenged, "Weak. That is bush league." He scoffed and the car pulled away.

**T**

The next morning found the three of us packing up the car outside the motel we'd been staying at, I was outside packing Sam's stuff into the car whilst Dean had popped off to the comedy shop around the corner, saying he 'needed supplies'. Sam suddenly came outside, "Hey, where'd Dean go?" He asked.

"Find some aspirin for his hangover." I lied as I shut the trunk.

"Right, right." Sam nodded. Multiple sirens suddenly sounded and Sam and I turned to see a load of emergency vehicles race past.

"That doesn't look good." I mused as they rounded a corner urgently.

"Yeah... where do you think it's heading to?" Sam asked.

I sighed, "With our luck? Mordechai House." The younger Winchester nodded in agreement and I glanced at him, "Should we go get our stuff out the car and go check it out?"

Sam shrugged, "Might as well while we're here. Could be something important, you know?"

**T**

By the time we had arrived the paramedics were loading a body bag into the back of an ambulance, officers were swarming the area, I even spotted a crime scene photographer lingering by the house. Donned in our FBI outfits, the three of us approached one of the police officers, "Good morning, officer, I'm Agent Joplin and these are my partners Agents Gurley and Albin," I lied smoothly as we flashed our fake badges, "Can you tell us what happened here?"

The cop yawned, "We got a call saying a girl had hung herself inside the house." He replied lazily.

"Suicide?" Sam prompted.

"Yeah," The officer sighed sadly, "She was a straight A student, with a full ride to UT too. It just doesn't make sense." He shook his head and walked away.

I clicked my tongue and looked at the boys, "What do you think?"

"I think maybe we missed something." Dean replied as he watched the paramedics shut the ambulance doors.

"We should come back later when everyone's gone, get a better look at this house without all these officials crawling all over the place." Sam suggested.

I visibly drooped, "You mean we have to go back to the motel?"

**T**

Once night fell we drove back to the house, all of us in mutual agreement that we get through the house quickly and get out of town. We had all had enough of this small Texas town and were eager to leave it in Dean's rearview mirror. "Oh, God dammit." Dean cursed when he saw the police car parked at the bottom of the drive leading up to the house.

"I guess the cops don't want anyone else screwing around in here." Sam shrugged as we parked away from the other vehicle and got out as quietly as possible.

"Yeah, but in case you haven't noticed, Sam, if we want to leave this stupid town we've gotta get in that house." I sighed and ran a hand through my dark hair as we walked up towards the house. We crouched behind some bushes and watched as the officers walked by us chatting animatedly about something. The air brushed up under my palms and I looked at the boys in the dark, "Something's out there." I murmured.

Instantly the boys tensed, "Where?" Dean whispered.

I raised my palms and checked the readings in the air, the cops were off somewhere to the right, and to the left... "Over there." I pointed.

We all squinted to where I'd pointed and Dean sighed, "I don't believe it." He muttered, moving over so Sam and I could get a better look. In the moonlight, I made out two silhouettes walking towards the car. As they neared I recognised the 'paranormal investigators' that we ran into the other day – Ed Zedd-something and Harry what's-his-name, they were whispering excitedly to eachother and I strained to hear it.

"...Maybe this'll land us a sweet deal with some producer, and you know what comes with sweet movie deals? Chicks." Harry whispered.

"Hot chicks?" Ed asked.

"Uh-huh, like that dark haired girl we met the other day. What was her name again?" Harry muttered.

Ed sighed, "I don't know man, but man she was _hot_."

I bit my lip and glanced at Dean as his jaw clenched in the dark, "I got an idea." He said darkly, rising slightly and turning towards the police officers and cupping his mouth with his hands, "Who you gonna call?" He sung in a loud voice, he crouched back down as the two officers ran back over, torch beams moving wildly as they searched for the sound.

"Hey! You!" One of the cops shouted as they found Ed and Harry.

There was a shuffling sound and I watched as the two _professionals _ran back down the path, the officers giving chase, "Freeze. Get back here!"

Dean gave a Sam and I a smug grin and we made a break for the house, ducking under the yellow police tape and dashing for the porch. We reached inside safely and shutting the door behind us, taking care to do it quietly. As soon as we were in I clicked y fingers and summoned a flame so we could see, Sam shut the curtains and Dean opened the duffel bag and handed out the shotguns, once everyone was armed he turned and looked at that symbol he'd spotted before. "Where have I seen that symbol before? It's _killing _me." He sighed and shook his head in frustration.

"Dean come on, we don't have much time." Sam said.

We moved through the house quickly, Sam leading us down to the basement – which was somehow colder than the ground floor of the wooden shack. Once we got downstairs we were instantly met with a shelf filled with gross looking jars, Dean curiously stepped over and picked on of the jars up for a closer look, the orange glow of the flame in my hand picked up the pale red liquid sloshing around inside it. "Hey, Sam," Dean grinned mischieviously at us, "I dare you to take a swig of this." He challenged.

Sam and I exchanged a look and frowned at the older Winchester, "And what the hell would I do that for?" Sam scoffed.

Dean paused, "... I double dare you."

I shook my head and turned away, my gaze finding a weird painting hung on the wall. A thumping noise drew our attention, Sam tracked the noise to a dusty cabinet and we crowded around it, at Dean's nod Sam opened the door. Rats squeaked and jumped out, running away from the torchlight and disappearing into the shadows. Dean instantly recoiled and lifted his foot, "Arrghhh! I _hate _rats." He shuddered.

I shot him an amused glance, "You'd rather it was a ghost?"

Dean looked at me seriously, no hint of a joke on his features, "Yes."

I rolled my eyes and pecked him on the cheek lightly before backing away, "Aww don't worry, I'll protect you from all those big bad rats." I teased.

The air suddenly shifted behind me and I whirled, a huge towering man in an old farmer's outfit stood close to us, hefting a large, wicked looking axe in his two-handed grip, in the orange firelight I could see his pale face, it was actually cracked in some places, something dark on the man's wrists caught my eyes and I frowned when I saw deep gashes on both wrists. He took a step and crossed the distance between us, he raised the axe and Sam shot him twice. I expected him to explode, or vanish or at the very least _stumble_, but he didn't even blink. I pushed at the air and Mordechai was forced back, crashing into the wall, destroying the cabinet in the process. With a deep, rumbling growl, Mordechai got back on his feet and faced us, the axe swung wildly in the shadows. I glanced at the boys and they looked back at me, shocked. With a shrug, I threw the flame in my hand at the enemy. The flame hit the target and Mordechai's arm was instantly enveloped in a flame, but all he did was pat out the flames with one of his huge, burly hands.

"Hmmm..." I tilted my head and looked at the boys, "Run?" I shrugged.

"Sounds good." Sam nodded. The three of us made a break for the stairs, Mordechai suddenly appeared and swung the axe at our heads, we all instinctively ducked and the shelves with the jars was sent crashing to the floor, glass smashing and wood snapped and broke on the hard concrete, the edge of the shelf clipped Dean on the shoulder and he was sent straight to the ground. I skidded to a halt and reached down to help him up, the air shifted but I ignored the fact that Mordechair was standing above us.

"Come on, Dean!" I screamed, suddenly starting to feel the danger.

"Steph, move!" Sam cried and barrelled into me, sending us both sprawling to the floor. He scrambled up to his feet and face off the enemy, opting the hard and physical approach. "Go! Get outta here!" He yelled as Mordechai raised the axe again. Dean was suddenly by my side and hauling me to my feet. I turned just in time to see Sam lunge out of the way of Mordechai's axe, it hit the electrical box and sparks flew everywhere, Sam was suddenly by our side and together, the three of us bolted back up the stairs without a second glance.

"What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?" Dean yelled as we ran through the household.

"You really wanna stop and ask?" I shouted back as we ran through the living room, passing the symbol that was bugging Dean, yanking open the front door and sprawling over the emergency tape, we rolled on the ground and sprang back up. Ed and Harry were standing outside with their mouths open, camera trained on us, as we ran towards them Harry turned and focused the camera on me. "What the hell? Get that damn thing outta my face before I break it!" I snapped, shoving Harry as we sprinted past.

"Go go go!" Sam shouted, warning the two bystanders as we left them outside and raced down the path.

"Not that way." Dean hissed and pointed at the two cops from earlier, we quickly changed courses and ran down the hill. The dew on the grass had made the trek slippery, I suddenly lost my footing and slipped to the ground, taking Sam with me. We rolled down the hill, the world tumbled and spun as we sped down the hill, the adrenaline pumping through me was enough to put a grin on my face, despite everything that had just happened.

"Oh, man," I giggled as we sprawled at the bottom, Sam landing on top of me and the world spinning around us, "That was wild."

Sam laughed too and brushed the hair out of my face, his eyes met mine and I saw something there I hadn't ever seen before. My lips parted and I looked away, Sam cleared his throat and climbed off of me as Dean caught up with us. The younger brother stepped away as Dean pulled me to my feet, I clung onto his jacket as I waited for the world to stop spinning. "Well, that looked wild." Dean sent me a charming grin.

I laughed, "Right?" Our lips met and I melted into him, closing my eyes as the adrenaline continued to ebb through me.

Sam cleared his throat and we parted, I caught Sam's eyes for a second and looked away, whilst Dean fished in his jacket for his keys. "Back there I thought for sure we were done for." He said.

_Oh Stephanie, what are you doing with the younger brother hmmm? _

I winced at the comment from Darquesse and hopped in the car quickly, taking my jacket off and using it as a blanket in the back.

**T**

I awoke the next morning to the sound of Sam tapping away on his laptop and Dean idly humming the opening guitar riff from _Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused_, "Morning, Steph." I looked over to Dean and saw he was busy drawing something onto a notepad. I looked around and recognised the motel room we had been staying in and made a face. I got out of the bed and walked over to where Dean was sitting, he was busy drawing the symbol from the house. He sighed and put down the notebook when I sat next to him, "Man, what the hell is this symbol?" He sighed and pulled me closer to him, "It's bugging the hell out of me. This whole damn job's bugging me – like, I thought the legend said Mordechai only goes after chicks." He sighed.

I shrugged and leant my head on his shoulder, picking up the notebook and tapping the symbol he had drawn thoughtfully, it did seem familiar – as if I'd seen it in a book or something. "It does." Sam replied from across the room.

"Well that explains why he went after you and Steph, but why me?" Dean responded.

I rolled my eyes at Dean whilst I hid my smile away from Sam into his shoulder, across the room he scoffed at his brother's remark, "Hilarious," He drawled.

I suddenly thought about something and looked over at Sam, "Doesn't the legend also say that he hung himself? I swear I saw his wrists were slit."

Sam nodded, "Yeah."

"So what's with that?" I wondered.

The younger Winchester tilted his head, a slight frown creasing his features as he concentrated, "Not to mention the axe too. I mean, ghosts are usually pretty strict, right? Following the same patterns over and over?"

Dean shrugged, "But this mook keeps changing."

Sam sighed deeply and began clicking away at his laptop frantically, "Exactly, but I'm telling you, the way this story goes..." He suddenly frowned at his screen, "Wait a minute."

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Someone added a new post to the Hell Hound site. Listen to this: 'They say Mordechai Murdoch was really a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an axe before slitting his own wrists. Now he's imprisoned in the house for eternity'." He read aloud to us. Next to me, Dean suddenly sat up and grabbed the notebook, I frowned at him in confusion as he looked at me triumphantly, "Where the hell is this going?" Sam continued.

"I don't know, but I think I might have just figured out where it all started." Dean replied, tapping his drawing.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I got up with Dean.

Dean smirked, his green eyes sparkling, "We're gonna go get ourselves an album."

**T**

Dean entered the record store excitedly, heading straight to the racks and flicking through them, "Hey Craig," I greeted him with a dazzling smile, "Remember us?"

Craig sighed, "Guys, look I'm really not in the mood to answer any of your questions, ok?"

I nodded innocently and took off my jacket, draping it over my arm as I casually leant against the counter, "Oh no, don't worry. We're just here to buy an album, that's all." Craig eyed me for a moment before nodding slowly and running his hand through his hair self-consciously.

Dean finally approached the counter and laid an album on the desk and pushed it over to Craig, "You know," He looked at Sam and I, "I couldn't figure out what that symbol was and then I realised that it doesn't mean anything. It's the logo for the Blue Oyster Cult." I noticed it was _BOC's On Flame With Rock and Roll _album, the logo alight with flame in the centre of the album, "Tell me Craig, you, uh, you into a bit of _BOC_? Or just scaring the hell out of people? Now why don't you tell us about that house?" He asked.

"The truth this time, Craig." I added with a smile.

Craig's face fell and he sighed, "Alright," He caved, "Um... my cousin Dana was on a break from TCU. I guess we just got bored and we were looking for something to do. So I showed her the abandoned dump on the edge of town, we thought it would be funny if we made it look like it was haunted," He looked up at me and quickly dropped his gaze, "So we, umm, we painted symbols on the walls, some from some albums and some from Dana's theology textbooks. Then we found out this guy Murdoch used to live there so we..." He paused and grinned at us guiltily, "We made up some story to go along with it. So we both told people, and they told people, who then told other people. And then these two guys put it on their website and everything sorta took a life of its own. I mean I – I thought it was funny at first but now that girl's dead," The teenager made a face, "It was just a joke, you know? I mean, none of it was read; we made the whole thing up. I swear!" He confessed, his eyes shining sadly.

There was a moment, then Sam nodded slowly, "Alright." He nodded in understanding.

The three of us turned and left the boy in a state, once we were outside I glanced at the boys, "So if none of it was real how the hell do you explain Mordechai?"

**T**

Sam was in the shower, leaving Dean and I half an hour alone in the room, Dean was busy kissing the crook of my neck that he knew I liked so much when the shower in the bathroom suddenly cut off. Dean sat up from the couch and I moaned as he moved towards Sam's bed, "What are you doing?" I hissed as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a packet, he tore it open and began sprinkling the powder onto Sam's discarded clothes. Once Dean had finished he joined me back on the sofa and he showed me the packet, "Itching powder." I read aloud and grinned at him, leaning up and lightly kissing up his neck to his jaw.

"Hey, Dean?" Sam called from the bathroom.

"Yeah?" Dean answered before he captured my lips.

"So I think I have a theory about what's going on."

"Uh-huh." Dean replied half-interestedly as he skillfully unclasped my bra and threw it down next to my discarded trousers, top and jacket.

"What if Mordechai is a Tulpa?" Sam suggested.

"Tulpa?" Dean asked as began kissing me again.

The bathroom lock suddenly clicked and I pushed Dean back a little and snapped my palm out, one of Dean's shirts rushed into my palm and I quickly put it on and struggled to do up the buttons as the bathroom door opened and Sam emerged.

"Yeah, a Tibetan thought form." Sam responded. I abandoned the top two buttons and glanced up at Sam nonchalantly, then my mouth dropped open as Sam stood there, the white towel hung around only his waist – giving me full view of his amazingly well toned chest.

"Oh yeah, I remember what a Tulpa is," Dean nodded, "Look, you get dressed and Steph and I'll go for a shower – I mean, Steph's gonna shower whilst I study up on the Tibetan Tulpa." Dean said quickly, I tore my eyes away from Sam's torso and gave him a small smile before Dean grabbed my hand and led me to the bathroom.

**T**

After an all-too-enjoyably long shower with Dean we all went to the nearby restaurant for some coffee, the three of us were sat in a table a little way away from everyone else with our drinks. Sam kept grimacing and adjusting his jeans, and it took every ounce of willpower I had to keep a straight face from my seat opposite the younger Winchester. "Dude, what's your problem?" Dean eventually asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Sam replied.

"Yeah?" His brother raised a doubtful brow.

"Yeah." Sam insisted.

"Alright keep going, Sam," I said, trying to maintain an innocent face, "Tell me more about these Tulpas."

"Ok," Sam cleared his throat and fidgeted slightly in his seat, "So, there was this incident in Tibet in 1915. A group of monks visualised a golem in their head. They meditated on it so hard they bought the thing to life. Like, out of thin air." He explained to me.

"Uh-huh," I nodded as Sam shifted again, "Then what?"

"Well, that was only twenty monks. Think about what ten thousand web surfers could do. I mean, Craig starts this story about Mordechai, then it spreads, goes online. Now there are countless people believing in the bastard." The younger Winchester continued.

"So you're saying that just because people believe in Mordechai, he's real?" I replied as I took a sip of my coffee.

Sam shrugged, but he had an uncomfortable expression on his face, "I dunno, maybe."

Dean held up a hand, "People believe in Santa Claus – how come I'm not getting hooked up every Christmas?" He pointed out.

"Because I'm pretty sure that the amount of times you do it with Steph makes you a bad person," Sam sniped, "And because of this..." Sam turned his laptop around so it face Dean and I. The two of us peered at the website at an enlarged photo Sam had bought up. "That's a Tibetan spirit sigil. See, on the wall of that house, Craig said that they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet they painted this, not even knowing what it was. This sigil has been used for centuries, concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass. So people are on the Hell-Hounds website, staring at the symbol, thinking about Mordechai... I mean, I don't know – but it might be enough to bring a Tulpa to life." The younger Winchester spun his laptop back around to him and ran a hand through his hair as he shifted again.

Dean leant back in his seat and I stared at my coffee and silently begged my facial muscles not to smile, "Yeah it would explain why he keeps changing." The older Winchester nodded.

Sam grimaced and adjusted himself in his seat for what seemed like the millionth time, "Right, as the legend changes, people think different things, so Mordechai himself changes. Like a game of Chinese Whispers."

"And that would explain like the rock salt didn't work." I snapped my fingers and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah – because Mordechai isn't a traditional spirit." Dean nodded.

"Mmm." Sam agreed.

"Ok so we'll just get rid of this sigil thing off the wall of the Mordechai house and take it off the website?" I suggested hopefully.

"Well, it's not that simple, Steph. You see, once Tulpas are created they take on a life of their own." Sam shook his head.

"Great," Dean sighed, "So if he really is a thought form how the hell are we supposed to kill a freaking idea?"

Sam shook himself again, "Well it's not gonna be that easy with these guys, uh, 'helping' us. Check out their home page." He clicked something on his laptop and showed us.

"_What the hell? Get that damn thing outta my face before I break it!" _My eyes widened as I watched myself as I shoved the camera holder roughly whilst the three of us sprinted past away from the house. The camera shuffled as it straightened up and zoomed in to focus on the towering man in the doorway of the Hell House.

"Since they've posted this video their number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone." Sam explained.

Dean rolled his eyes dismissively, "Hmmph. I've got an idea, come on." He said as he took my hand.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked.

"We've gotta find a copy store." Dean replied.

Sam got up and followed us, only to pause and start itching himself wildly, "Man, I think I'm allergic to our soap or something." He muttered.

I caught Dean's eye and we shared a well earned laugh as we walked away. "You did this?" Sam asked.

"Don't look at me, it was Dean!" I protested, a guilty smile sneaking back onto my face whilst Dean walked away laughing.

"You're a frggin' jerk!" Sam shouted out to his brother.

"Oh yeah!" Dean called back smugly.

**T**

"I don't get it," I said as Dean and I followed Sam through the trailer park on the west part of town, "How did you even know they were here?"

"Their latest website said they were staying in a mobile home on the edge of the town they were investigating. Said they called it the 'Eagle's Nest'." Sam replied.

It only took a few minutes until we found the right trailer, the three of us put our heads to the door and listened intently, "This stuff here... it's our ticket to the big time right here: fame, money sex... with girls. Ok? Be brave, Harry. WWBD. What would Buffy do, huh?"

"What would Buffy do," A voice repeated, "You know, I think we've found our real life, ass kicking Buffy twin, Ed."

"Oh yeah, the, uh, hot dark brunette chick with those two morons?" The first voice, Ed replied.

"Morons?" Dean frowned and mouthed to us, I shrugged and Dean pounded on the caravan door.

There was a sudden scuffle from within the mobile home, "Who is it?" A voice called out.

"Come on out here, guys. We can hear you in there." Dean replied.

"It's them!"

We waited outside politely for a moment, "Should we kick the door down?" I murmured impatiently, the boys shrugged as they considered the option. The door suddenly opened and the professionals stuck their heads out the door.

"Guys, we need to talk." Sam said, skipping pleasantries.

"Yeah, um, sorry guys," Ed scratched the back of his neck and sucked the air between his teeth, "We're ahhh, a little busy right now."

"Ok well we'll make it real quick. We need you to shut down your website." Dean gave a friendly smile.

Ed laughed and glanced at his colleague, "You know, these three got us busted last night. We spent the night in a holding cell."

"I had to pee in that cell urinal. In front of people... and I get stage fright." Harry protested.

"Why should we trust you guys?" Ed narrowed his eyes.

Sam sighed and leant up against the caravan, his towering height giving him that intimidating edge, "Look guys, we all know what you saw last night – we all know what's really in that house. But now thanks to your website there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai."

I nodded and stepped closer too, "That's right," I agreed, "Which means that people are going to keep showing up at the Hell House, running into him in person, somebody could get hurt."

Ed frowned, "Yeah, yeah..."

His friend, Harry, looked up at his friend, "Ed, maybe the hot girl's got a point, maybe-"

"Nope." Ed cut him off with a quick shake to the head.

"No." Harry shrugged and nodded along.

"Sorry, hot-girl-"

"I have a name." I muttered.

"It's just, we have an obligation to our fans – to the truth." Ed shrugged.

"Well, I have an obligation to kick both your little asses right now." Dean smiled threateningly, his tone promising violence.

"Dean – Dean, just forget it, alright?" Sam cautioned his brother, trying to keep the peace, "We could probably tell them something about Mordechai... but they're still not gonna help us," Sam exaggerated a sigh and backed away from the caravan, "But they're still not gonna help us. Let's just go."

Ed and Harry exchanged a look, "Wait... what?"

I nodded in sad agreement with Sam, "Yeah, you're right."

The three of us backed off and walked away, "What did you say about?"

"Hang on a second here!"

What thing about Mordechai you guys?" They called after us.

The three of us halted and I gave Sam a hedged look, "Don't tell them, Sam." I warned.

"But if they agree to shut the website down, Steph." Sam shrugged.

"Sam," Dean said, "They're not going to do it, you said so yourself."

"No wait," Ed called behind us, "Wait. Don't listen to Harry, ok? We'll do it. We'll do it."

"It's a secret, Sam." I advised as we turned back around to face the investigators.

"Look, it's a really big deal, alright? And it wasn't easy to dig up. So only if we have your word that you'll shut everything down." Sam said seriously.

"Totally." Ed agreed immediately before Harry could get a word in edgeways.

"Alright." I nodded whilst Dean handed them some paperwork we had forged at the copy store just half an hour earlier.

"It's a death certificate. From the 1930s, we got it at a library. Now, according to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Sam pointed to different parts on the paper to the boys.

"That's right," Dean said, "He didn't hang or cut himself."

"He shot himself?" Ed glanced up at us.

I nodded, "Yep. With a .45 pistol. To this day they say he's terrified of them." I lied informatively.

"As a matter of fact they say if you shoot him with a gun loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds it'll kill the son of a bitch." Dean said matter-of-factly.

The nerd duo snickered to eachother and turned away from us, all but running back to their caravan. Once the door shut I smiled to the boys, "It's scary how good I can lie these days." I shrugged.

**T**

We stopped by at the nearest internet café and waited for Sam to confirm on his laptop that Ed and Harry had uploaded the news. The three of us were sat in a booth, I was next to Dean and we were sat opposite Sam with his laptop. Above Dean on the wall was an odd wooden fisherman hefting a big fish in his arms and wearing red and white stripes from head to toe, he even had a quirky eye-patch and a gold tooth. If you pulled the cord hanging from the wooden ornament the man's mouth would move up and down and a horrible laugh would play. Needless to say, it was extremely annoying, and sure: it may be a fun joke for any kids, but luckily we were all adults here.

Well, except Dean.

The older Winchester pulled on the cord for the sixth time since we'd sat down in the booth three minutes ago, Sam had had enough and without taking his eyes off of his laptop he grabbed the cord of of Dean to stop the annoying laugh. Once he'd stopped the fisherman Sam's hazel eyes looked up at his brother's, "If you pull that string one more time, I'm gonna kill you." Sam threatened as he let go of the string.

Dean gave his younger brother a deadpan stare and pulled the cord again, Sam stopped typing on his laptop and I rolled my eyes as they stared eachother down. Dean quickly snickered and dismissed his brother's death glare, "Come on, man. You need more laughter in your life, you know? You're way too tense." I glanced at Dean and shook my head at him, he sighed and relented, "They post it yet?" He asked.

Sam glanced at Dean and handed me the laptop to read, "'We've learned from reputable sources that Mordechai Murdoch has a fatal fear of firearms.' Reputable. That's cute." I smirked and handed Sam his beloved device back.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" Dean wondered, glancing up at the wooden ornament.

"Long enough for the new story to spread, and the legend to change," Sam shrugged, "I figured by nightfall iron rounds will work on our good friend Mordechai." Sam held out his beer and the three of us tapped our drinks to it.

"Sweet." Dean grinned and took a long drink, I set my water down and noticed a cheeky grin beginning to form on Sam's face, Dean went to put the bottle down but it was glued to his hand, the older Winchester stared at it in confusion whilst Sam and I laughed.

"So that's what you were doing when Dean and I went outside to check the car was locked." I laughed.

"Oh, you didn't." Dean glared at his sibling.

Sam laughed and victoriously held up the tube of super glue, "Oh, I did!" He said gleefully, he reached up and pulled the string on the fisherman triumphantly and I shook my head, still smiling.

"I'll go out and get some nail polish remover." I touched Dean's shoulder lightly and stood up, "I'll be back soon."

**T**

We entered the Mordechai House just before 10pm, after leaving a ruse for the police to find and be distracted with, we snuck into the house as quickly and quietly as we had before. We entered the house with our guns drawn, I let Dean and Sam carry torches this time and focuses more on keeping my gun in a two-handed gun grip like Skulduggery had taught me.

We searched each room methodically, taking extra care to check if anything was lurking in the shadows for us, once we had cleared two rooms, however, Dean had started to adjust his gun hand and sighing. After he did it a fourth time I turned and looked at him, "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I barely have any skin left on my palm." Dean replied, aiming his snarky tone at Sam.

Sam scoffed, "I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole." The older Winchester glared at his response and shone his torch beam in Sam's eyes until he winced and turned away. With a _hmph_, Dean stalked into the next room, leaving Sam and I to follow. Before I exited the room the air brushed beneath my palms, I stopped and tilted my head, refusing to turn around.

Sam stopped with me, "What's wrong?" He asked.

I frowned as Sam shone his torch at me, "I don't know, I just... I thought I felt something. Like an air reading, you know?"

Sam was quiet, "No. Actually I don't, funnily enough." Sam smirked and I laughed and nodded.

"Right, right It's probably nothing, maybe one of those rats we set free last time we were here, you know?" I shrugged. Sam nodded and we crossed into the next room to find Dean shining his torch on a painting hanging above a dusty mantle.

"So do you think Mordechai's home?" He asked as he heard us enter the room.

Sam and I exchanged a glance and shared a shrug, "I don't know."

"Me either." A voice from behind us sounded. The three of us whirled, our guns immediately targeting the source of the noise. I resisted the urge to free one of my hands and click my fingers as Dean and Sam's torch beams found the faces of Ed and Harry.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Ed cried and threw his hands up in surrender.

I sighed annoyedly and tilted my head at them, "What are you trying to do – get yourselves killed?" I snapped and shook my head.

"We're just trying to get a book and movie deal, ok?" Ed replied, fear wavering his tone.

I lost interest in them and glared at the camera that was pointed at me, "I wasn't lying when I said I would break that camera." I warned as I brushed a hand through my hair, discreetly reading the air for anything else. Something heavy shifted beneath my palm and I gripped my gun in two hands again, "Something's coming." I glanced at the boys, they nodded and everyone fell silent. From somewhere else in the house, I could hear the sound of someone sharpening something – like the blade of an axe, perhaps.

"Oh, crap."Ed whispered as he heard the noise too. Sam, Dean and I crept through the house as a tactical triangle, moving back through the house like shadows towards the noise. We came to a door and stopped, I tried the handle tentatively but it was locked. Suddenly someone bumped into me and I instinctively lashed out with my right elbow and jabbed my assailant in the gut. There was an _oof _as someone stumbled back, Sam's torchlight showed me it was Harry, he breathed awkward, uneven breaths and sent me a glare.

"Don't touch me – I could've shot you, or worse." I snapped under my breath and turned back to the boys, "The doors locked. I'd break it down using my, uh," I glanced at Ed holding the camera at me, "My _thing_ but we've got bystanders."

Dean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to formulate a plan, "Ah guys," Ed said from behind us, "You wanna... you wanna open that door for us?" He asked.

Dean turned and narrowed his eyes, "Why don't you?"

The air shifted wildly, promising violence and bloodshed. I grabbed stepped back, my left hand reaching out and yanking Dean and Sam with me, keeping them clear of the door as Mordechai burst through, his newly sharpened axe gleaming wickedly and his voice deep and bellowing. "For fuck's sake." I hissed and grabbed Ed and shoved him beside me, "Get behind me." I ordered as the boys and I emptied our guns into the ghost's ugly face. Once Mordechai's huge form disappeared I reached in my pocket and loaded the pistol whilst Sam and Dean branched out to check the other rooms, leaving my to babysit.

"Did you get him?" Harry rushed over to his friend in all his geeky excitement.

"Yeah," Ed breathed, looking at the space where Mordechai has dissipated, "They got him," He then glanced at me, "You – you saved me." He breathed.

I winced at his expression, reminding me all too much of Fletcher Renn, and moved away, "Yeah, guess so." I muttered, wiping my eyes as tears sprang into them.

_Crying. Really? You're seriously crying over Fletcher Renn? Oh my God, I need to fix your attitude. _

"No, no, no," Harry was saying, "On camera, did you get him on camera?"

Ed faltered and I glanced back at them as they fumbled with their camera. Harry finally snatched it in his hands as I walked back over to them, "Let me see it, let me see it." He muttered as he flipped it open. Mordechai appeared again, swinging his axe at Harry.

I lunged and shoved him out of the way, kicking the axe as I did so, Mordechai missed his mark by inches and I tried the gun again. When the first two shots that failed I caught him with a roundhouse kick which connected fiercely with his chin. Anything, _anything _else would've gone down. But Mordechai stayed standing. I braced for his attack but relaxed a little when he disappeared again. "Nothing's working." I muttered as Harry steadied himself. Dean ran in, hearing the commotion from the next room, "Nothing's working, Dean." I repeated to him.

Dean turned to Harry and Ed, "Didn't you guys post that bullshit story we fed you?" He asked, shining the torch in both of their faces.

"Of course we did." Ed snapped.

Sam suddenly entered, his gun cocked and ready, Harry glanced at his entrance before turning back to us, "But then our server crashed." Harry said, pushing his spectacles up his nose.

Everyone was silent as we processed the information, "So the entry didn't take?" I guessed.

"Mmmhmm." Ed and Harry nodded.

"So these," Dean shook his pistol in the noob-duo's face, "These guns don't work."

"Yeah." Ed muttered.

"Great," I nodded and faked a big smile, "Sam, any ideas?"

"We are getting out of here." Harry suddenly said.

"Yeah, good idea, Harry." Ed nodded at his partner and they ran past Dean and into the other room.

"I'm actually relieved. It's not a bad idea that they're leaving." I sighed honestly. My sudden mood improvement was cut short when we heard screaming from Harry and Ed, I made a noise of frustration and started towards the room.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sam sprinted past me, "Guys, let's just burn the freaking thing to the ground. Then there'll be nowhere for Mordechai to haunt, right?" He didn't wait for an answer and rushed out to Ed and Harry's aid.

I looked at Dean and shrugged, "It's not the worst idea."

"Alright, alright. I've got my can of lighter fluid, all I need you to do is light it up, ok?" Dean asked, I nodded and he started spraying the walls and floor with the kerosene, the crashing noises coming from the other room weren't exactly the most comforting noises on Earth, but...

"Dean! Steph!" Sam gasped from the other room, I left Dean and ran into the room to find Sam pinned by Mordechai's axe to the wall, the burly farmer was so strong he was actually holding Sam up off of the ground.

_Come on, we can take this schmuck – he's like a failed Of Mice and Men character. _

I stalked towards Mordechai, the shadows curled around me as I gathered my magic, I sent them all whipping towards Mordechai, careful not to hit Sam. Mordechai staggered and let go of Sam, turning and looking at me. I tried not to let his creepy silence unnerve me as I held a hand out, my other putting my gun in my jacket pocket. "Come and get it, you ugly bastard." I taunted, feeling the fight in my veins. Mordechai charged like a bull, I dodged and rolled out the way, coming up gracefully and carefully circling back around to lead Mordechai away from Sam. I tried air again, sending a great column slamming into him. He was thrown off his feet and sent crashing into the wall, several paintings fell and smashed from the mighty impact.

_Oh dude, that was awesome! Hit him some more!_

I whipped the shadows again as I sprinted over to him, switching my tactics to a close and physical combat. I dodged the first meaty fist but the second caught me square on the cheek, Mordechai hit me so hair I saw cute little stars dancing around my vision. I groaned and realised I'd been sent to the floor with one vicious punch, "Steph, you need to move _now_!" Sam cried, I looked up and glimpsed a huge boot coming down to stomp me, I gasped and rolled out of the way, getting to my feet.

_Careful, that boot would've been the end to our good looks. _

"Anytime today, Dean." I called through gritted teeth, my right cheek throbbing. I ran over and feigned left and shot right, kicking the huge opponents knee and hopefully shattering the kneecap if I was lucky, Mordechai fell to his knees and I started driving punches down. He surprised me by lunging and grabbing me like a ragdoll, pinning my arms to my sides and holding me out as he slowly got to his feet. I sent Sam a terrified glance and kicked my legs out uselessly as Mordechai appraised me with his cold, dead eyes. Then he threw me, I flew through the air and slid across the floor at a terrific speed, my back slamming against the sideboard I think I actually rebounded a little. If it weren't for the jacket I was wearing I think I would've shattered like one of those jars downstairs, I took a moment to struggle to my feet, breathing heavily and leaning against the wall, I'd accidentally bitten my lip on my flight, and blood dripped steadily down my chin and in my mouth, I spat some out and pushed myself from the wall.

_Hey, if you need little old me to step in, I'm right here. _

"Ok, that was a cheap shot." I drawled and fixed my hair, "How long, Dean?" I shouted, stress and pain seeping into my tone.

"Like, two seconds!" He called back.

"Two seconds, ok." I muttered and held out my hand, using the last dregs of concentration to have the axe rushing into my palm. Mordechai began to move towards me and I raised an eyebrow and lobbed it as hard as I could, quickly snapping my palms out to propel the axe and give it that little bit more speed. It hit Mordechai straight in the chest and forced him to go down to floor. "Dude!" I looked up at Sam, who'd finally managed to stand and was still massaging his throat for breath, "Did you see that shot? Oh my god – it's official. I'm the best!" I laughed at the floored Mordechai gleefully.

"Steph, light it up!" Dean suddenly called, I ran over, ignoring the searing pain in my back as I met with Dean at the doorway, the smell of kerosene was almost overwhelming and stung my nostrils as I clicked my finger and dropped a flame onto the floor, I made sure it caught and we both ran out of the room, Dean grabbed Sam's arm as we passed him. "Go go go!" We ran through the living room, I dropped a little behind when my back began to scream at me to slow down.

_You know who can heal that up nice and easy for you?_

My jaw clenched when the pounding in my head started and I slowed to a stop immediately, clutching my head as I could feel her trying to wrench free of the confines of my mind, I glanced up and saw Sam and Dean had made it out of the house. The pain in my head intensified and I actually cried out a little at the sheer pain of it, I dropped to my knees and clutched my head. Suddenly, slow, heavy footsteps sounded and I cracked my eyes open to see Mordechai approach me, a gaping hole in his chest and the bloodied axe dripping onto the dusty floor.

**T**

_Sam's P.O.V_

I watched in horror as Mordechai, forced to his knees by Stephanie's brutal fighting moves suddenly lunged and snatched her off the floor like she was nothing. He held her out like a toy as he slowly and silently got to his feet. I knew that strength, I'd felt it when the bastard was cutting off my air supply with that axe. I took in short shallow breaths as my throat tried to cope with the extreme pressure it had been put under. Stephanie's legs kicked out uselessly in the air as Mordechai rose to his towering height, she sent me a fearful look a second before he launched her into the air. She landed and actually _slid _across the floor with great momentum, hitting the end wall with a very loud and dreadful _crack_.

_Oh shit_, I thought when Stephanie didn't move, I glanced up at Mordecai: he seemed to just be watching her, checking to see if that hit had finally silenced his fierce challenger. The Stephanie got to her feet, I couldn't believe it. Blood was running from her freshly cut lip and she was leaning heavily against the wall with her breathing laboured – but she'd survived. Her face was tense with pain, I guessed from her back from the way she was slightly bent, her usual perfect posture for her impeccable balance was gone, and it showed when she finally pushed herself off from the wall and staggered a little in the process.

"Ok," She droned and began fixing her hair, of all things, "That was a cheap shot. How long, Dean?" With her voice a little more raised I could detect the pain and stress she must've been feeling, Mordechai had chipped a little away from her rock and it was showing.

"Like, two seconds!" My brother's voice drifted through the doorway.

"Two seconds," The girl echoed and nodded to herself, "Ok." She raised her hand and the axe that lay abandoned next to me suddenly drifted towards her and into her waiting hand. Mordechai began to approach her again, I couldn't get over how he dwarfed her form. I narrowed my eyes as I went through all the possibilities she could do with that huge axe, to take precaution, I sucked in a few needed breaths and heaved myself up and out of the way of her firing range, just in case she missed. I grinned a little when I saw Stephanie arch an eyebrow at Mordecai and suddenly throw the axe, her hand following through with the manoeuvre and snapping out her palm. The air shimmered and the axe was pushed further, speeding towards Mordecai and hitting home, I didn't see where it had hit him from where I was stood, but from Stephanie's triumphant expression it must have been on target. Mordecai fell backwards, the axe impaled deep within his chest. I carefully massaged my throat as I glanced at the axe.

"Dude!" The girl looked at me, her pretty dark eyes shining, "Did you see that shot? Oh my god – it's official. I'm the best!" Her gleeful smile grew wide and she laughed as victory danced in her eyes.

"Steph! Light it up!" Dean yelled out, Stephanie suddenly ran towards Dean and I concentrated on breathing again. Not a moment later did my brother Stephanie suddenly rush out of the room, Dean grabbed my arm as they passed, yanking me along with them. I glanced back and saw the orange roaring flames and sent Dean a wide eyed stare. "Go, go, go!" Dean merely shouted as we ran back through the house, I was dimly aware that Stephanie had slowed up a little, the damage her back had suffered clearly taking more toll on her than she'd wanted. I wanted to stop and help her, but I couldn't breathe. My throat felt like it had been crushed and I longed for the fresh air. Dean and I made it through the house and didn't stop running until we were near the bushes where we had hidden just the other night. "Whew," Dean grinned and placed his hands on his needs as he sucked in lungfuls of air, "Maybe we were cutting it a little fine there, huh?" I ignored him and concentrated on my respiration. "Hang on – where's Steph?" Dean asked, frantically looking around us.

"She was behind us." I rasped, my throat feeling a little better.

We looked back at the house, the room Dean and Stephanie had set alight was burning merrily, great orange flames waved at us cheerily as the windows smashed, "Holy shit, Sammy," Dean looked at me with wide, panic-stricken eyes, "Steph is still in there." We both sprinted back towards the house, we made it to the doorway, to see the dark haired girl, all in black, laying slightly curled up before Mordechai.

"Steph!" I shouted weakly, Stephanie looked at us just as Mordechai bought the axe down, it went straight through her chest and hit the pump guarded by her ribcage, she screamed and her back arched off the ground painfully. White hot terror raced through me and I knew Dean shared the same look, we went to take a step into the house but Stephanie suddenly raised her hand and waved it at us, I thought she was trying to shoo us away until a wave of solid air hit us and we were forced off of our feet, we both shot out the door and sprawled onto the grass outside.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

"Steph!" A feeble shout from the doorway of the house drove my attention from Mordechai's lifeless face, I probably shouldn't have done it, maybe then I could've somehow dodged and avoided the wicked blade, evaded Death's beckon once more. But this time was different, the pounding in my head actually seemed to hold off a little as the blade pierced through my chest and plunged into my heart, it was as if the person behind the pounding had stopped and wanted to observe carefully. I heard my scream but I didn't remember my mouth opening to do it, my back arched painfully off the ground as Mordechai withdrew his weapon, I glanced at the boys as they took a step into the house, I raised my hand and waved it, trying to concentrate for just one second further... A wave of air crashed into them and they were thrown back outside onto the field surrounding the house.

_How noble. I'm ready to come out now. _

I could feel it, the clock was making it's final steady seconds before it would fall silent forever. But I wasn't quite ready for all that death business just yet.

_And who can blame you? No one likes having choices taken away from them – why should death be any different? _

I rolled my eyes at her comment and let myself slip back into the dark, recede under the covers and let the nightmare take hold.

**T**

_Darquesse's P.O.V_

I blinked and scowled at the broken body Valkyrie – or Stephanie or whatever she called herself these days, had left me to tend with. I sighed and ignored the heat of the flames that had begun to lick at the doorway and focused on the healing process. I went to work on my poor punctured little heart and mended the ribs that had been damaged by the axe as it entered. When I breathed air instead of blood I sat up and worked on my cheek, fixing the damaged and taking down the swelling and the bruising. I stood up as my back shifted and realigned itself, happy to be back to my normal self. The ceiling creaked dangerously above me and I sighed in annoyance, dimly aware that my lungs would be getting damaged from all this smoke in the house. I walked over to the window and punched open with shadows, climbing out of it daintily, fixing any damage the smoke may have done to my lungs as I did so.

When I took another breath it was clean and fresh. _Brand new air_, I mused as I gazed at my surroundings. "Hmmm," I said to myself as I gazed at the huge, untouched forest before me, then turned on my heel and turned my sights on the small, oblivious little town, "So many things to do." I sighed. I suddenly felt something in my head, I narrowed my eyes and concentrated, then burst out laughing when I realised what it was. "Oh, Valkyrie!" I clapped my hands, "I didn't think you'd be able to manage that."

_Well, you know me. Full of surprises. _

"Indeed..." I murmured, walking back around to the front of the house, if you could call a burning structure a house at all. The boys were on the lawn, Dean didn't seem to be moving, whilst Sam's chest rose and fell as he struggled for air. I walked over to them silently, tilting my head curiously as I approached them.

Dean was frozen, shocked into reliving the moment of Stephanie being stabbed in front of him, and her scream of agony as it happened, his brain trying to comprehend everything he'd just seen.

_Oh, shut up. _

Sam, however, was struggling to comprehend life altogether. Curiously, I moved my palm out and concentrated, grasping a loose hold of his vitals.

_Well that's a new thing. _

I ignored Valkyrie's voice and crouched down next to Sam, he was a strange character, I had watched from behind the scenes on how Valkyrie had formed a bond that differed to the one she had with Dean. Although now Valkyrie wasn't so sure about how she felt about Sam, I loved teasing her when she caught herself sharing lingering stares with her boyfriends brother. I'd watch her cheat on Fletcher, and now I get to watch her cheat on Dean.

With a sly smile curling the corners of my mouth, I gently pressed my hands on the sides of Sam's hair, my fingers gently tangled in his hair as I concentrated, depositing my healing powers into the younger Winchester brother. The angry purple bruising around his neck vanished and Sam's breathing evened out. Eventually, his eyes opened and he sat up, his brown eyes blinking in shock as he looked at me. I reached out and brushed one of my hands gently through his hair, my fingers traced down to his left cheek and rested there for a moment, then I stood up and walked away, looking up as the dark grey smoke billowed up into the night sky.

"It's you, isn't it?" Sam said from behind me, I turned slowly an eyebrow arching delicately – a trait I had stolen from China Sorrows, "You're the one inside Stephanie's head that she never talks about."

"Never talks about," I said softly, "But she's always thinking about me. We have our little private chats..." I sent him a hint of a smile, "Sometimes about you, sometimes about Dean," I walked over to him and placed a finger on his jaw, running my finger smoothly down to his neck where his injuries had stuck out not two minutes before, "She's confused, you know. Valkyrie." I muttered, taking my hand away, "She thought she loved Dean, but now she's not so sure... we enjoyed the view when you came out the shower earlier by the way." I winked and gazed back up at the sky.

"Why are you telling me this?" Sam asked,

"Because," I turned back to him, "Believe it or not I'm not as bad as everyone thinks... I'm depicted as Valkyrie's 'bad mood', but I'm actually not," I tilted my head and sighed, "I don't expect you to understand, Sam, you don't know me. And Valkyrie doesn't want you to know me, either." The house behind us finally succumbed to the overwhelming instability of the crumbling structure, it crashed to the ground in a cloud of bright range ash and smoke.

"So, you came out and healed Steph when that Mordechai stabbed her in the chest?" Sam asked.

I nodded, "We're like two sides to a coin, we are. She was dying, her life, meaning my life, was ebbing slowly away and she needed me to help her," I shrugged, "So I helped her."

"But how come you're out instead of Stephanie?"

I looked deeply into hazel eyes, "Because saving Stephanie means I get to come out and stretch my legs for a while, Stephanie is still here," I tapped my forehead, "She's just where I normally am right now." I explained.

"Inside her head? I can't imagine what that's like." Sam shuddered and offered me a smile.

I grinned, showing teeth, "Stephanie's head?" I took a step towards him, "Oh Sam, Stephanie's head is a dark and awful place. It's not fun to be in there for such a long time, it can turn anyone insane." I loped my arms around his neck, Sam narrowed his eyes a little and stiffened, but he soon relaxed, "And here we are Sam, you and me..." I trailed off in a delicate tone and looked at his lips. The seconds dragged by until suddenly Sam and I were kissing, our lips moulded together and I let Sam push me to the ground, we parted and I put a finger to my lips, drifting away back into my head and letting Stephanie surface once more.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

I gasped and stiffened when I realised where I was, on a field outside the ruins of the Mordechai house kissing my boyfriend's brother. "Sam!" I hissed and shoved him off of me, standing up and rubbing a hand through my hair.

Sam scrambled to his feet, "Steph, oh my God!" He stuttered, his cheeks turning red.

"Just promise me that we won't _ever _talk about this, ok?" I snapped and ran over to where Dean was, he was still laying in an unresponsive stupor. I lightly began hitting his face, "Oh come on, Dean – snap out of it!" I murmured as I shook him. Dean suddenly coughed and I wrapped him in a tight hug, "I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, really hoping he'd start hugging me back.

"Steph – you're, you're _alive_. But we saw Mordechai, and that axe – it went straight through you!" Dean spluttered, looked down at my top, my hands went down to my tunic and I failed to hold back the sigh of dismay when I saw the slit in my top from where the axe went in. I showed him my healed skin and gave him a small smile.

"It's ok, I'm ok. I'm just, just fine. All healed, no injuries to worry about, just a burnt down house." I Iaughed and Dean sighed in relief and pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Don't do that again, ok? _Ever_." He said, a peculiar anger taking over his tone, but I knew he meant well. After he was finished hugging me we stood up and made our way over to Sam, he was staring at the dying remnants of the Mordechai house, now nothing but a pile of charred wood and broken, unidentifiable objects.

"Well, at least nobody will go in anymore," I shrugged as we stood next to Sam, "I mean, look: Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt, can he?"

Dean nodded, his arm slinking around my waist, "Yup. It's fast and dirty, but it works."

"What if the legend changes again and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?" Sam wondered.

"Well, then we'll just have to come back." Dean answered. The three of us slipped into an eerie silence as we watching the flames consume themselves into smoke.

"Huh," Sam scoffed and looked at us, "It kinda makes you wonder: of all the things we've hunted, how many existed just because people believed in them?"

Nobody wanted to answer that one.

**T**

The next morning, the three of us were in the caravan park at a picnic table, Sam and I were filling Dean with the details last night. "And you should've seen this throw I landed with the axe!" I explained excitedly, my hands moving animatedly as I told Dean, "I lobbed Mordechai's axe and then used the air... my throw was so on target," I sighed as I relived the moment, "...And then like three minutes later he stabbed _me _in the chest, so that was payback I guess." I laughed awkwardly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Steph, come on, you've gotta tell us – how did you learn to fight like that?" Sam asked, leaning on the bench as he looked at me.

I shrugged, "I've been doing this since I was eleven, you know? And you've got to be able to defend yourself in this."

"I was thinking that Mordechai had a really super high attack bonus, you know Ed?" The three of us turned to see Harry and Ed carrying brown bags filled with shopping.

"Mmhmm," Ed muttered distractedly, "Man, have I got the munchies right now." He breathed.

The boys stopped when they saw us, "Hey guys." Harry greeted.

Sam smiled, "Hey guys."

Harry turned to his friend, "Should we tell them?" He asked.

"Harry, we might as well, you know, they're going to read about it in the trades." Ed replied.

Harry nodded, an excited grin overtook his face as he turned to us, "So, this morning we got a phone call from a very important Hollywood producer." He boasted.

"Oh yeah," I pretended to look impressed, "Was it a wrong number?"

"No. No, no," Ed forced a laugh, "He read all about the Hell House on our website and wants to give the option of the motion picture rights – maybe even have us write it." He explained.

The paranormal investigators began loading their groceries into an already over-filled car, "And create the RPG." Harry added, shooting a smug glance at us over his shoulder.

"The what?" Dean voiced our silent question.

Ed sighed and crossed his arms, "Role playing game."

I nodded, "Right... That's, that sure is useful to know." I muttered.

"Yeah, well, a little lingo for you, Buffy." Ed smiled.

I scowled, "That's not my name."

"Anywho," Ed continued ignoring my glare, "If you, err, excuse us – we're off to la-la land."

"Well congratulations, guys. That sounds really great." Sam smiled warmly.

"Uh-huh, totally cool, I can't wait to see it." I added.

"Yeah, that's awesome. Best of luck to you." Dean nodded.

"Oh yeah, luck," Harry glanced at Ed, "That has nothing to do with it. It's all about the talent. Sheer... unabashed talent." The two partners nodded at eachother, pleased with themselves.

Ed made the gesture for _live long and prosper _from _Star Trek _and I had to physically restrain myself from rolling my eyes and scoffing. "Later." He said as he and his partner both got into their car.

They started to pull away until Harry leant out the window, "Oh, hey Buffy?" He called, I gave Sam and Dean an unamused look and turned to Harry, "So there's no chance you can give me your number?" He asked.

I smirked at the boys, inspiration suddenly hitting me, "Sure," I shrugged, "Why not?" I stepped over and Harry gave me, with shaking, sweaty hands, a notepad and pen. I smoothly wrote down the number and handed him back the notepad.

"Thanks." Ed said, I flashed them a smile and the investigators drove off.

I scoffed as I walked back to the boys, "Wow..."

"I have a confession to make." Sam blurted, I stiffened and gave Sam a wide-eyed, fearful look.

"What's that?" Dean asked, oblivious to my silent protests.

"I, uh... I was the one that called them and told them I was a producer." Sam smiled down at his shoes.

Dean laughed, "Yeah, well _I'm _the one who the dead fish in their back seat."

The three of us laughed and Sam's phone beeped, he flipped it open and frowned at the screen, "What the hell?" Sam scoffed, I gave Dean a mischievous smirk.

"Something wrong, Sam?" I asked, keeping my tone innocent.

"Yeah... I just got some _crazy _text from some unknown number asking for -," Sam's gaze snapped up to me, "Hey Steph? When you gave Ed and Harry your, uh, number... did you give them mine by any chance?" He asked.

I couldn't keep it up, I burst out laughing and nodded, Dean chuckled and Sam shook his head and grinned, despite himself.

"Truce?" Sam offered.

I nodded, "Yeah, we'll call it a truce."

"At least for the next hundred miles..." Dean winked and we walked back through the caravan park towards Dean's car.

****Author's Note: Yay! Early(ish) update! On this day, 24th July (2014) I uploaded the first Chapter of this story - how crazy, right?! I've started a role play account on twitter itsStephEdgley so you guys can keep up with Val in the Impala with the boys and be kept updated on news about this story and upcoming chapters! I follow back and if you have anything you want to talk to me concerning this story.****

****Thank You all for you support over this past year! I love you all and I'll see you at the next installment, expect it to be finished soon!****

**\- Blue-Eyed AngelGirl**


	18. Chapter 18

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter 18 – Something Wicked**

**Author's Note: Hey guys, what's up? I'd just like to warn you all that I knew I wasn't gonna be feeling this episode when I started through Season 1, so this is probably gonna be a chapter I'll have to plough through. **

_Valkyrie's P.O.V _

_It was hot. Everything was starting to burn. I was on the floor of the ancient Mordechai house, unable to move. Everything was dark, the only light was coming from the roaring flames. Over the noise of the crackling, untamed fire, I could hear the thudding noise of old leather on older wooden floor. I blinked and saw the pale, haunted face of Mordechai Murdoch, a deep ridged scar lay waste from his lower lip up his cheek and curling on the side of his forehead. My eyes trailed down and I saw a huge, gaping wound in his chest, the almost ridiculously big axe was gripped in his huge left hand, dark liquid dripped from it and lazily fell to the floor. Then, he raised it above his head and drove it down-_

I gasped and sat up in my seat, clutching my chest. "Jesus!" Dean swerved the car, the tires screeched in protest at the sudden manoeuvre. "God_dammit_, Steph." The older Winchester sighed as he kept driving, his eyes on mine in the rearview mirror. I didn't bother replying and threw my head back into the headrest, trying to get control of my breathing and waiting for my heart to steady itself. Dean tore his eyes from the world and spared a glance at me, "Again?" He asked. I didn't meet his gaze and stayed quiet, but apparently my silence was the answer he needed, Dean rubbed his temple and shook his head, "Stephanie, this has got to stop."

I nodded, "I know." I said quietly.

"I mean," Dean continued as if he hadn't heard me, "It's been three weeks, you haven't slept well since, you're living off coffee and-"

"I said I know," I said sharply, narrowing my eyes at the older Winchester, "I _know _I don't sleep well, I _know _it's been three weeks. I am handling it, ok?" Dean didn't reply and I softened, feeling my anger evaporate, "I'm sorry for snapping, I don't know what's wrong with me." I murmured, looking down at my hands – they'd started shaking for small periods of time lately, and they were shaking now.

"Forget it." Dean shrugged. But I knew he hadn't – and he wasn't going to soon, either.

Sam had stayed quiet during the whole exchange, but he turned round as soon as Dean made it clear he wasn't going to be talking for a while, "We'll get some coffee at the next stop, ok Steph?" He gave me this smile that had started to look different recently, and the more I caught myself liking it the more guilty I became.

"Thanks, Sam." I muttered, keeping my gaze fixed on the door handle of the car.

"Speaking of stops," Sam turned to his brother, "Are you sure you got the coordinates right on this location?"

"Yeah, Steph and I double checked before we left this morning. It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin," Dean glanced at his brother, "Dad wouldn't have sent us the coordinates if it wasn't important, Sammy."

I didn't know if it was the effect of being stuck in the car or the lack of sleep, but as I leant my hand against my head as a headache began forming. Meanwhile, in the front of the car, Sam was scowling at his brother, "Well I'm telling you I looked and all I could find was a big steamy pile of nothing. If Dad's sending us hunting for something I don't know what it is."

I blinked and lifted my head up, "Maybe your Dad's gonna meet us there." I suggested, injecting hope into my tone.

"Oh come on, 'cause he's been _so _easy to find up to this point." Sam rolled his eyes as he drawled.

"You're a real smart-ass, you know that?" Dean smirked, "Don't worry, I'm sure there's something in Fitchburg worth killing." He assured.

"Yeah?" Sam challenged, "What makes you so sure?"

Dean glanced at his brother like it was obvious, "'Cause I'm the oldest. Which means I'm always right." He said matter-of-factly.

The younger Winchester scoffed and gave his brother a bitchy look, "No it doesn't!" He protested.

I rolled my eyes at their squabbling, too drained to find it enjoyable today, whilst at the front Dean was grinning to himself whilst Sam was staring out the window, frustration reflecting in his eyes. I made a face at the pain in my temples and closed my eyes, drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

**T**

_Grey smoke slowly rose from the burning house up to the night sky, I walked along the dew-covered grass silently, relishing in the cool night air and the simplicity of the shining stars. I felt someone approach behind me, but I didn't bother turning around. "It's you, isn't it?" _

"Steph? Steph!" Someone was shaking me, my eyes snapped open and I instantly gripped the hand on my shoulder and wrenched it off, "Woah, ow! Hey!" I recoiled when I saw Dean, my eyes widened and I ran a hand through my hair.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, Dean!" I stammered, suddenly feeling cramped up in the car and opened the door and scrambled out. We were parked on a street outside a diner called **Glaslow's Diner**, I breathed slowly and ran a hand through my hair as Dean got out of the car too, Sam was nowhere in sight.

"It's fine," Dean sighed and looked away, "Sam's gone to get us some coffee." I nodded quietly, too tired to reply, "Steph, are you feeling ok? Like, when was the last time you ate?" Dean asked slowly, raising an eyebrow at me.

I reached in through the open car window and retrieved my discarded jacket, frowning as I thought about Dean's question. I finally answered his query with a shrug as I reached into the pocket and retrieved my hair tie. "Mmm, a day or two?" I guessed as I tied my hair back into a ponytail.

Dean walked over to me and placed his hands on my waist, "Ok, ok, after Sam comes back we'll go to a store and pick up some food, sound good?"

I nodded and Dean kissed me tenderly, "You're gonna be fine. I love you." He breathed, the words brushing on my cheek.

I blinked, "I love you too." I edged a smile, feeling like my reply was a little forced.

"Well I asked the waitress, and she says that no one's heard about anything freaky going on." Sam interrupted us and we stepped apart. The younger Winchester approached us with a cheery smile and a coffee holder filled with three take-away cups. Dean and I grabbed one each and started drinking.

I let my eyes wander as I drank tilted my head when I noticed something, "Hey, anyone got the time?"

"Uhh," Sam looked at his watch, "Ten after Four. Why?"

I gestured for them, "What's wrong with this picture?"

The boys turned their attention to a playground I had noticed, nothing was wrong with it, apart from the fact that it had been completely and utterly deserted. "School's out, isn't it?" Dean frowned.

"Yeah. So where is everybody?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Steph's right. This place should be _crawling _with kids right now." Sam looked confused. A woman suddenly walked over near the park and sat on a bench overlooking the barren recreation ground, Dean looked at us and gave us a shrug before walking over to her.

"Sure is quiet out here." Dean gave the woman an open, friendly smile.

The woman looked up at him and nodded, "Yeah, it's a shame."

"Do you know why it's like this?" The older Winchester asked innocently.

"The local kids are getting sick, it's a terrible thing." A doleful expression suddenly appeared on the woman's face.

Dean looked concerned, "How many?"

"Just five or six -but serious, hospital serious. A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious, they think it's catching." The lady continued.

Dean nodded thoughtfully and looked back at us, giving us a silent look.

**T**

The three of us entered the local hospital in our FBI getups, Dean handed us the IDs he had made especially for this, as we were walking down the hall Sam frowned down at his ID, "Dude. Dude, I am _not _using this ID." He said quickly as we walked.

I frowned at him, "Why not?"

The younger Winchester sighed and showed it to me, "Because it says bikini inspector on it!" He glared at his brother.

I bit my lip and tried not to laugh as we passed a couple of nurses. Beside me, Dean was grinning, "Don't worry, the receptionist won't look that close alright? Hell, she won't even ask to see it," I noticed we were nearing the reception desk, but Sam was still facing Dean and I nervously, "It's all about confidence, Sammy." Dean patted his brother's shoulder and suddenly spun him around.

The younger Winchester stumbled nervously and the receptionist peered up at him, "Hi," Sam smiled openly, "I'm Doctor Jerry Caplin, from Centres for Disease Control." He introduced himself confidently.

The young woman tilted her head, "Can I see some ID?"

Dean sniggered from where we were stood a little further down the hallway, I _shh'd_ him with a smile tugging on my lips, Sam shot us a scorching glare and turned back to the receptionist with a smile, "Yeah, of course." He quickly reached into his blazer and flashed the ID, his fingers covering the picture. The receptionist frowned when Sam quickly put it away, "Now could you direct me to the paediatrics ward please?"

The woman paused, then pointed down the hallway, "Ok well, just go down that hall, turn left and up the stairs." She directed, Sam nodded and turned to us.

Dean grinned as his brother sauntered back over to us with a sour look, "See, Sam? I told you it would work."

Sam sighed as he looked from Dean to me, "Follow me. It's upstairs." He said quietly, leading us around the corner and up the stairs.

We were walking down yet another all-white hallway that had an overpowering smell of disinfectant that stung my nose when my eyes wandered to an open door. I slowed down and looked around, when I was satisfied that the coast was clear I pressed my palm against the white door and pushed gently. The door opened silently and I peered into the dark room, the curtains were closed and there were no lights on, a woman with matted grey hair was sat in a wheelchair with her back to me, behind her on the wall was an upside down cross. Slowly – and super creepily, the woman slowly turned to face me, the dark gave her face a more haggard quality, even though she really didn't need the disturbing lighting. I stared at the woman, narrowing my eyes as I glanced at the inverted cross and mulling over a decision.

_Go on. Kill her – just in case, right? _

"Steph!" Dean hissed, I turned and saw he was a few feet away with his hand out to me. I mentally shook myself of that thought and quickly walked away from the open doorway, trying to leave what had just crossed my mind behind. I took Dean's hand and gave him a smile as he led me around the corner, we let each other go as we neared Sam and a man in a doctor's coat.

"Well, my colleagues and I would firstly like to thank you for seeing us, Dr. Heidecker." Sam was saying as we stepped into earshot.

"I'm glad you three are here, I was just about to call the CDC myself. How'd you find out anyway?" The doctor replied, giving the three of us a questioning look.

Dean waved his hand dismissively, "Oh some GP, I forget his name. He called Atlanta and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch."

"We've heard you've got six cases so far?" I inquired in a professional tone.

The doctor nodded, "Yeah, five weeks. At first we thought it was a garden variety bacterial pneumonia – not that newsworthy, but now..."

Sam tilted his head, "Now what?"

"The kids aren't responding to any antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep going down and their immune systems just aren't doing their job," Dr. Heidecker sighed and stared off at a point on Sam's arm, "It's like their bodies are... wearing out."

Dean shot me a glance as a nurse approached and tapped the doctor on his shoulder, "Excuse me, Dr. Heidecker?" She held up a clipboard with forms on them and the doctor took them and began signing them.

"Tell me, Doc; you ever seen anything like this before?" Dean asked as Dr. Heidecker hastily scrawled the pen over the forms.

Dr. Heidecker shook his head without looking up, "Never this severe." He answered as he turned the page.

The nurse suddenly looked up at us, "And the way it spreads... that's a new one for me." She supplied, trying to be helpful.

I tilted my head, "What do you mean?"

The nurse shrugged, "It works it's way through families – but only the children. One sibling after another."

"Huh," Dean shot a glance at Sam and I, "Do you mind if we interview a few of the kids?"

"They're not conscious." The nurse shook her head.

I raised an eyebrow, "None of them?"

"No."

"I don't suppose we could, uh, talk to the parents?" Sam tried.

The nurse shrugged, "Well, if you think it'll help."

"Great," Dean cracked into a smile, "Can you tell us who your most recent admission was?"

**T**

We found the father of the latest victim, Mary Sylver, downstairs in the hospital waiting room. Nathan Sylver was sat on a chair in the corner with several empty cardboard coffee cups taking over the magazine table beside him. "Mr Sylver?" I asked politely as we neared him, the man looked up at us as we approached.

"Yeah?"

"We're from the CDC, and we were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us." I explained as I smoothed down my black dress and took a seat opposite him.

"I should get back to my girls." Nathan said, sitting up a little and narrowing his eyes at us wearily.

"We understand that," Sam said earnestly as he and Dean took a seat either side of me, "And we'd really appreciate you talking to us. Now, according to her records, Mary's your oldest?"

Mr Sylver sat back in his chair and nodded, suddenly looking bedraggled and exhausted, "She's thirteen."

"Ok," Sam nodded gently, "And she came down with it first, right? And then..."

"Bethany," Nathan answered rubbing the rough, unkempt stubble on his face, "The next night."

I leant forward, my hands clasped on my lap, "Within twenty-four hours?"

The man shrugged, "I guess. Look, I, uh, I already went through all this with the doctor." He looked like he wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else.

"Just a few more questions if you don't mind," Dean said quickly, "How do you think they caught pneumonia? Were they out in the cold, anything like that?"

"No," Nathan shook his head, "We think it was an open window."

I tilted my head, "Both times?"

The man stared at me for a long moment before he shook his head, "The first time, I – I don't really remember... but the second time for sure, and I _know _I closed it before I put Bethany to bed." He replied.

"So you think she opened it?" Sam asked.

Mr Sylver nodded, albeit reluctantly, "It's a second story window with a ledge. No one else could have."

**T**

Back at the motel room, Dean and I were getting changed out of our FBI outfits, whilst Sam had gone out to get us lunch, "You know," I said as I struggled with the zipper on my dress, "All this... it might just be pneumonia." I paused as I quietly wrestled with myself, crying out as I suddenly fell backwards and sprawled onto the floor, "Oww." I groaned, staring up at the ugly ceiling.

Dean gave me a smile as he helped me up, "Here." He pulled me close into him, I froze as his warm breath tickled in my ear. Fingers lightly brushed against my back as Dean's hand moved up my back, it was silent except from the sound of Dean pulling down my zipper slowly, far too slowly. I stepped out of the dress and kicked it to one side carelessly, shimmying out of my tights as Dean pulled off his shirt, revealing a very toned chest.

My fingers traced lightly up his chest as I looked deep into his very green eyes, my skin barely touching his, teasing him. After a while Dean snaked his fingers through my hair and his lips met mine, we kissed and nothing seemed to matter. All my conflicting thoughts that I'd been having seemed to lift off my shoulders as we moved backwards until we hit the bed. Dean lifted me up and placed me gently upon it, then we finally broke apart gasping. "God I hope Sam doesn't walk in." I joked breathlessly.

Dean grinned as he climbed on top of me, "Ssh." He whispered, putting a finger on my lips as he moved his mouth to my neck.

**T**

"_Stephanie's head?" I stepped towards him, closing the distance between the younger Winchester and myself, "Oh Sam, Stephanie's head is a dark and awful place," I breathed, cocking my head to the left as I stared deep into his gorgeous eyes, "It's not fun to be in there for such a long time, it can turn anyone insane." I smiled and loped my arms around his neck. Those gorgeous brown eyes narrowed as Sam stiffened, but eventually he relaxed, "And here we are Sam, you and me..." I kept my tone delicate as it trailed off and I looked at his lips. Seconds lazily dragged themselves by until Sam and I were kissing, lips coming together until eventually I allowed myself to be tackled to the floor..._

"Steph!" A muffled, faraway voice suddenly sounded.

_Eventually we parted and I reached up and rested a finger on my lips, smirking a little as I looked up at Sam from beneath my lashes. With concentration, I focused on Stephanie in the deeper parts of my mind and drifted away, like the mist that used to blanket the sea in Haggard in the early autumn mornings. _

"Stephanie!" Someone was shaking me awake, I gasped and opened my eyes, sitting up quickly. I expected to be met with Dean, so when I sat up in the bed, and the thin sheet fell down to reveal my naked bodice I didn't expect Sam to be stood there.

"Sam? Oh my god!" I grabbed at the sheets to cover myself.

"I'm not looking!" Sam said quickly in an oddly high pitched voice, covering his eyes with one of his hands.

Once I'd tied the sheet around myself I looked up at him, "You can look now." I told him as I ran a hand through my hair, it had become tangled and wild – probably from earlier with Dean. Sam peeked through his fingers carefully before he removed his hand away from his face, his cheeks were a little pink from embarrassment but his eyes looked serious. "Where's Dean?" I asked.

"He's in the shower." Sam replied, I nodded and rubbed my eyes, feeling a little worn down by the scenes that kept running through my mind. "Steph... is everything ok?" The younger Winchester asked, his tone a little awkward.

I stared at him for a long time before sighing, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to force myself up and get some coffee." I replied with a tired smile, lazily holding my hand out in the direction of the shirt Dean had discarded earlier, it was his FBI shirt, but I wasn't worried. I glanced at Sam and realised I was too tired, too worn down to care whether he'd see my chest or not. I let the covers fall down and pool on my lap as I slipped the shirt on as quickly as possible, clearing my throat as I got off the bed and passed Sam to get to the kitchenette.

"Do you want coffee?" I asked in an uncharacteristically empty tone as I busied myself with the kettle.

"No thanks." Sam replied. Even though I had my back to him, I sensed he had more to say to me. "Hey, can we talk?"

I didn't reply as the kettle finished boiling, I stayed silent still as I poured the hot water into a cup with instant coffee in it. We didn't have any milk or sugar to sweeten it, but the taste matched the bitter mood I was in from my recent haunted slumbers. I sipped at the drink and sighed at the taste, coffee was the closest I'd come to food in days. I hadn't eaten for nearly a week, and I expected to be starving but, much to my surprise, I hadn't felt any desire to eat at all. "What do you want to talk about, Sam?" I asked in a distant tone as I studied the ring on my finger, it was a simple black band, but the way it looked in the light – as if it had some sort of smoke swirling around in it, was interesting to watch.

"It's about that night," I allowed no expression to enter my face as Sam studied me carefully, he glanced at the bathroom door and stepped closer to me, "When we were out on the lawn and we-"

"That wasn't supposed to happen." I interrupted quickly, keeping my voice low.

"Well it did, Steph," Sam replied in a tone sharper than the one I was accustomed to, "And I can't get it out of my head."

"Sam," I sighed and put my coffee mug down on the nearest flat surface, "You have to understand, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it wasn't me! Not really..." I trailed off, the doubt and confusion I had been feeling for the past few weeks was rushing back up again. I went to turn away but Sam grabbed my wrists, halting me in my tracks, "Sam, come on."

"_Steph_." Sam replied, putting emphasis on my name, "I can't, ok? I can't get it out of my head. And I know this thing that we have? It's more than platonic. I know you feel something between us too." The younger Winchester insisted, his eyes boring into mine as he towered over me.

I blinked and shook myself out of his grip, "Stop it, Sam. Just stop right there, ok? Didn't anyone ever tell you that cheaters never prosper?" I hissed.

Sam rolled his eyes and I jumped back as the bathroom door opened and Dean emerged in a towel, he paused and looked between the two of us, his eyes narrowing, "What did I miss?" He asked.

I picked up my coffee cup and walked over to him with a smile, "Oh nothing," I lied, "Just some idle chit chat." I gave him a short, brief kiss.

Dean tilted his head when we parted, a smirk curving his lips, "Oh yeah? Anything interesting?"

I shrugged and shook my head, "Nothing worth repeating." I replied, taking a sip of my coffee.

Dean frowned at my cup, "What's with the caffeine? It's like 3pm."

I rolled my eyes, "It's just a little boost, nothing to worry about." I assured him.

Dean didn't look convinced, "A boost, huh? Steph, I left you asleep on the bed, you were out like a damn light. Surely you don't need coffee too?"

I pouted, "Don't judge me!" I went to take another sip, but Dean slipped his hand around the mug and pried it away from me, "Hey!" I protested.

"No, no, no. No more coffee for you, ok? Your sleeping schedule's already outta whack." Dean said as he moved to the sink and poured the drink down the drain. I visibly drooped and ran a hand through my hair, Dean set the cup on the counter and walked back over to me, "What you're having before you do anything else is some food. Sam brought lunch back with him earlier, we left some for you." He gently took hold of my shoulders and guided me to sit on the sofa.

"You're coddling me." I mumbled half-heartedly as I tugged at his shirt that enveloped my frame.

"I'm not, I'm just making sure you're strong enough for the case, ok?" Dean replied as Sam started serving me some food on a plate from one of the cupboards.

I rolled my eyes at him as Sam sat the plate before me, it was nothing special – just half a grilled chicken burger and some salad. "Thanks, Sam." I murmured and picked at the food half-heartedly, mainly moving it around on my plate and taking the occasional bite to satisfy Dean. Once I'd had enough I pushed the plate away from me and stood up from the chair. "I've had enough," I announced, moving towards the bathroom, picking up my tunic and trousers as I did so. "I'll be ten minutes, then we'll go, ok?"

**T**

Dean drove us straight over to the Sylver household, Sam picked the lock on the front door and we were inside within minutes. As Dean had predicted, Nathan Sylver hadn't returned home for the evening, instead opting to stay in the hospital with his sick children.

Upstairs, in Mary's bedroom, the three of us were scouring the room from top to bottom looking for clues for what could be attacking the children. Sam was on one end of the room whilst Dean was on the other, I was laying on the floor looking under the bed.

"You'd be surprised how many people don't check under a bed these days." I'd responded automatically to the boys' comments about my choice of search. Although they weren't my words: Skulduggery had said something similar to me when I had first met him, and I'd never forgotten it.

As I stared at the far bed post, my mind wandered to my old reality, musing on what everyone must be doing right now. Was time different over there? Had Skulduggery moved on? Had he replaced me? And what about Mum and Dad – did they have any idea that I had gone, and were they starting to realise that my reflection wasn't _me_? My heart twinged in my chest a little at this.

_Probably not..._

"Oh shut up." I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes to myself as I got to my feet.

"How was it down there?" Dean shot me an amused grin.

I shrugged, "Nothing is, or ever was, under the bed."

Sam scoffed, "Well, it _was _a long shot." He murmured, I raised an eyebrow at him.

_Ouch_

"Come on then, Sam," I narrowed my eyes at him challengingly, "Did you find anything over there?"

The younger Winchester shook his head, "Not over here per se, but Dean was right about something."

His brother frowned, "What?"

Sam gestured to the window sill, "I don't think it's pneumonia." Dean and I exchanged a frown and approached the window. The white sill looked fine, but on the left hand side there was a dark handprint branded into the wood, the wood had rotted in it's place, creating a brilliant contrast against the perfect eggshell white.

I looked up at the boys, "It's rotted for sure, do you know anything that leaves a handprint like that?" I asked. Sam shrugged, but Dean didn't respond, he was still staring at the print on the sill but he had a distant look in his gaze. "Dean?" I tapped his shoulder lightly.

Dean finally looked up at Sam and I, his face a little pale, "I know why Dad sent us here," He glanced back at the sill, "He's faced this thing before. And I think he wants us to finish the job." He swallowed, looking regretful.

**T**

The sky was gradually getting darker by the time we pulled up outside of the motel we were staying at, "So tell us Dean," I said as we all got out of the car, "What exactly _is _a Shtriga?"

"It's," Dean paused and ran a hand through his hair, "It's kinda like a witch, I think. I don't know much about them." He confessed with a shrug.

"Well I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal, either." Sam replied, the three of us grouped together before we entered the motel.

"Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about... sixteen maybe seventeen years ago. You were there, don't you remember?" Dean looked at his brother quizzically.

Sam gave Dean a deadpan stare, "No."

I elbowed Dean in his side lightly and gave him a look, since we had run into John a few weeks ago I felt I understood Sam better now: he clearly had a damaged relationship with his one living parent – one that his older brother didn't seem to get. After cutting Dean off I looked past him and at Sam, "Maybe he just saw that there was a case here and he's just tipping us the coordinates." I suggested in a light tone, trying to ease the tension.

"Yeah, maybe..." Sam trailed off and looked down at his feet, I suddenly realised we had stopped walking and we were waiting outside the door of the motel. I pushed the door open and we entered into the lobby as quietly as possible, the man at the desk walked over to us as soon as he set his sights on us. He was a short, portly kind of man, with balding dirty white hair on top of a pudgy, lined face.

"Hey, you the three in room 19?" The clerk asked.

"That's us," I nodded, forcing a smile onto my face, "Is something wrong?"

The man clasped his hands together and sucked the breath through his teeth, I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for the stupid man to start speaking, "Yes, actually. I'm afraid we've had to... remove you from your room."

"What? Why?" Sam frowned, looking at the man with those cute brown eyes, his soft lips pursing into an adorable-

_I knew you liked him_

The teasing voice made me stop in my tracks, I blinked and focused on the short ugly guy, concentrating on what he was saying in that weak, nasal voice, "... Bank of the card you gave us to pay with contacted us earlier – it didn't access your account because there is no Keith Richards registered with an account." He looked at Sam with what I supposed was meant to be a stern expression, but his eyes were too wet, too pale a green to look intimidating.

"Well, here, we'll try mine then, yeah?" Dean dug in his pocket for his wallet and flicked through it until he found the right one, "Here you go, man." Dean smiled as the clerk took the card and studied it.

"Ronnie Wood. You're telling me your name is Ronnie Wood?" The man looked up at Dean dubiously.

Dean nodded, "Yep."

The clerk blinked and looked at Sam, "And you're called Keith Richards, yeah? And who's she? Mick Jagger?" He pointed one of his sausage fingers at me.

I flashed him a wicked smile, "Charlotte Watts, actually. Most people call me Charlie. I have my card, if you'd like to try that." I started digging around in my jacket for my purse where my FBI cards and fake IDs were.

The man sighed and held up his hand, "No need, no need! Do you honestly expect me to believe the crap you're trying to sell?"

Sam frowned at us with a smile, then he let out a short laugh, "I'm sorry?"

The clerk rolled his pale green eyes, "Oh come _on_, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood – frickin' Charlie Watts! They're band members from _The Rolling Stones_."

"I think you've made some mistake." I lied, trying to look convincing.

"Oh hell, have I made a mistake!" The portly guy snapped, "If you three jokers don't pay with _real _money and leave tonight I'll call the cops and report you." He threatened.

_Uh-oh, can't have that can we? Maybe you should step aside for this one, Steph, let me handle this_

I rolled my eyes at the offer, trying to convince myself that it wasn't as great as it sounded. Beside me, Dean held up his hands and sighed, "Ok, ok. You take cash?" He asked, reaching into his jeans pocket.

"We're gonna go upstairs and grab the stuff." I told Dean as he began counting out the money he had hustled just last week playing pool.

"Yeah, yeah – you guys do that." Dean nodded in agreement.

The portly man looked at us, "I can send someone up to help if you like." He offered.

I smiled, my mind casting back to the unshaven, greasy lean guy who had served us at the desk yesterday, "No it's ok, we've got it handled." Sam shook his head, we couldn't let anyone see the guns we had up there.

My hand brushed against Dean's arm as Sam and I passed him, my fingers lingered against him for a moment, "We'll meet you outside." I told him with a small smile.

Sam and I were quiet as we walked up the poorly carpeted stairs, some of the lights in our corridor were broken, and we were met with an uneven gloom when we reached the top.

_Lighting kind of sets the mood, doesn't it?_

I sighed at the voice in my head as we walked down the hall, "What's wrong?" Sam asked.

I scoffed, "Nothing, nothing. Just, uh, thinking they could really replace the lights around here, make it a little brighter, you know?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, but you know; cheap motels means cheap management, right?"

"Guess so." I murmured, reading the door numbers as we passed them in the half-light.

When we reached the right door Sam fumbled in his pockets for the room key before unlocking the door, when we entered we split up and moved over to different sides of the room to start packing. "What are we gonna do now?" I wondered aloud as I started packing away clothes into duffel bags, "I mean, there's definitely a case here, we can't exactly leave town."

Sam shrugged from across the room, "There's another motel a few blocks from here, we'll just hole up there I guess."

I stared at Sam for a long time before my eyebrows creased into a delicate frown, "You're angry." I observed.

The younger Winchester heaved a sigh, but he didn't look up from packing the stuff, "No I'm not."

I scoffed, "Right. 'Course."

Sam snapped his head up at me, "Well what do you want me to say, Steph? That I'm '_fine_' just like you are? Who are you kidding? Because it's not me, it's not Dean. And it's certainly not yourself."

I blinked once, taken aback, but quickly narrowed my eyes at himas I recovered, "You don't know me."

"Oh yeah?" Sam sauntered over to me in a few sharp, long steps, "Then who does know you, Steph?" He asked, towering over me, "Because from what I've seen, no one does. Not even yourself."

His words hit a nerve and I stayed quiet as I stared up at him, in a flash of anger my hand flicked and Sam's head whipped back, his cheek rapidly turning red. I looked at my hand in shock, then I threw my arms around him and pressed my face to his chest, "I'm sorry," I whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry." I mumbled into his shirt, my eyes beginning to well up.

After a long, overdrawn moment, arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer to Sam – if that was even possible. "It's ok, I know. I know." Sam murmured.

"I didn't mean it," I promised, "I didn't mean any of it, Sam."

We stayed like that for what seemed like hours until Sam gently let go of me, taking hold of my wrists and keeping me close. Everything seemed to slow at that point, the motel room was flawed but at the same time it was perfect – the gloom that promised to hold secrets and forbidden memories, the peeling walls and stained threaded carpets that gave the room a sort of cliché of romance – however foolish that sounded.

_Yeah, you sound like an idiot_

I'd have probably responded, but I was too busy kissing Sam to do so. I knew I shouldn't have, but I enjoyed it immensely. Sam was somehow soft and gentle, but at the same time he was strong and fierce.

It was amazing.

We broke apart, breathless, and Sam stepped back to take off his shirt. When I saw his chest I lost what little willpower I had left, I shrugged out of my jacket at record speed, my tunic came next. Sam pulled me close to him and we kissed again, one of his hands moved behind my back and worked on my bra, once it was was off he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, my hands snaking through his hair as we kissed.

A loud, disrupting knock at the door caused us to part, "Excuse me? I don't know what's going on in there but this room needs to be vacated in the next two minutes or else I'm calling the cops!" A voice warned.

Sam placed me on the floor, his breathing fast and low, "Shit." He muttered. I ran a hand through my hair, focusing on putting my clothes back on quietly, throwing the occasional item of clothing in the duffel bag as I did so. Once my jacket was on and Sam had fixed himself I pointed to the bathroom, "Get the stuff, I'll take the bags and meet you outside."

"But Steph-"

"Sam," I gave him a sad look, "Do you honestly think _now_ is the time?" I asked, gesturing to the door for emphasis. Sam followed my gaze and looked at the door, then he nodded reluctantly, moving through the dark towards the bathroom door quickly.

I finished packing the clothes away and discarded of the food I had barely touched earlier, then I walked over to the door and struggled to open it with my hands full. The portly clerk from downstairs was waiting for me on the other side, he appraised me with a suspicious look and put his hands on his hips, as if he were an adult and I was a child. "And what, exactly, was taking you so long in there, hmm?" He asked, I held my tongue and brushed past him nonchalantly, heading for the stairs.

Dean was leaning against the car looking up at the stars when I emerged from the motel, he met me with a smile on his lips and I got a sick feeling at the pit in my stomach.

_Hey, let's have a bet! I bet Dean knows what you were doing with his brother upstairs... if I win, you and I switch places. Sound good?_

"Shut _up_." I muttered through gritted teeth as I neared the older Winchester.

"Hey, what's with the hold-up upstairs? Everything ok?" Dean asked, his green eyes filled with concern.

"Uh, yeah. Just the clerk, you know? He came upstairs and started bothering Sam and I." It wasn't _exactly _a lie, but it didn't make me feel any better, either.

"Ah ok," Dean nodded, "Where is Sam? Is he ok?"

"Yeah, Sam's fine. He's - he's good," I said as I put the bags down, "Why wouldn't he be?"

Dean shrugged and I moved to the back of the car, popping the trunk so I could load the stuff, lazily reaching out with my hand and having one of the bags shoot into my waiting palm so I could load it quickly. I concentrated on what I was doing so I wouldn't have to look at Dean, taking my time to put the first bag in, pausing to rearrange some of the guns and swords to ensure I had enough room for the other stuff. Sam came out as I was finishing with the trunk, he looked at me for a few milliseconds before he carelessly threw the bag of toiletries into the back.

"We good to go?" Sam asked, looking at Dean as if he hadn't been making out with his supposed girlfriend not ten minutes ago.

The older Winchester shrugged again, "Sure, sure. There's another motel not far from here. I'm gonna have to scam a few more credit cards tomorrow, we'll use one of the others that we have instead." He replied.

I cleared my throat, "Sounds like a plan."

**T**

The drive to the motel was filled with Dean telling me that when he and Sam were kids, they were in this town with John hunting a witch that was preying on children – same as now.

"So wait, this Shtriga... you think it's the same one Dad hunted before?" Sam asked as we pulled up outside the back-up motel.

"Yeah, maybe." Dean shrugged, focusing on parking the car.

"But here's the thing I don't get: if Dad went after it why is it still breathing air?" The younger Winchester continued.

Dean clicked his tongue impatiently, "'Cause it got away."

I frowned, "Got away?" I echoed. John Winchester didn't seem like the type of guy to leave a monster alive on purpose...

"Yeah, it happens, guys." Dean tutted, frustration beginning to seep into his tone.

"Not very often." Sam argued tersely.

Dean scoffed, "Well, I don't know what to tell you, maybe Dad didn't have his _Wheaties_ that morning."

I tilted my head, "What are _Wheaties_?"

My question was ignored, instead, Sam was looking at his brother intently. "What else do you remember?" Sam demanded.

"Nothing," Dean emphasised defensively, "I was a kid, alright?" He got out of the car in a huff, slamming the door as he went.

Sam stared after him and gave a deep sigh, "There's something he's not telling. Either that or he's just being weird."

"Yeah." I agreed quietly. The seconds dragged by until the silence got too much. Overwhelmed by it, I got out and followed Dean to the motel quickly, hurrying to get away with what I did with Sam earlier. I found the older Winchester leaning against the counter, there was no one attending and he was tapping his fingers against the desk impatiently. "You know there's a bell, right?" I asked, ringing the desk bell for emphasis.

A young boy came out of the back room, through the open door I saw an even younger boy sat on the sofa watching TV, "A king or two queens?" The boy asked, skipping pleasantries.

The entrance door shut and Dean and I glanced back at Sam, "Two queens." Dean answered.

The boy pointedly looked at the boys and then at me, "Yeah, I'll bet." He sniggered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" I narrowed my eyes a the kid, did he seriously just imply what I think he was implying?

_Well, it's not exactly false now, is it? _

I scoffed at the comment from Darquesse, the door behind the desk suddenly opened and a woman entered. She was young, no older than Dean was, for sure, she gave us a welcoming smile as Sam joined us, "Hi." She greeted.

"Hi." Dean smiled back.

"Checking in?" She asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

The woman nodded and looked down at the smart-mouthed boy, "Do me a favour, go get your brother some dinner." She said.

"I'm helping the guests!" The boy protested, the woman gave him that legendary look that mothers can give to make their kids do anything, the boy faltered under his mother's gaze and went back into the room where the younger boy was – presumably his brother.

"Now what'll it be?" The woman asked, adjusting her hair with a sigh.

"Two queens." Sam replied with a friendly smile.

"Tough little kid." Dean said, his eyes fixed on the door to the room where the two boys were, but he had a distant, more nostalgic look in his gaze.

"Oh, yeah. He thinks so," The woman smiled in fond agreement, "Will that be cash or credit?" She asked the older Winchester, but Dean wasn't paying attention. He was focussed on the door with that faraway look in his green eyes, I reached out and touched his arm, but he didn't respond. "Sir?" The woman frowned at Dean.

Her prompt was enough to jolt Dean "Uh, cash." Dean smiled back and snapped out of his trance, digging into his pockets and getting his wallet out, Sam and I looked at eachother behind Dean and I arched an eyebrow and shrugged.

**T**

In the motel room, Sam was researching on his laptop whilst Dean and I were lounging on the couch. The limitation of sleep had started to show, and since Dean had cut me off from caffeine the exhaustion had really started to hit me. That's why Dean and I were on the couch instead of helping with the research, Dean had his arm wrapped around me whilst I rested my head on his chest, my eyes closed and my mind resting contentedly on the cusp of sleep.

The tapping of Sam's keyboard faltered and I heard Sam sigh, "Dean?" He whispered, "Is she asleep?"

I wrestled with myself to force my eyelids open, "No, I'm not. What did you find, Sam?" I yawned out my question, not bothering to lift my head from Dean and look around.

"Well, Dean was right — it turns out the Shtriga is a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about them trace back to Ancient Rome. It says here that they feed off _spiritus vitae_." Sam relayed his research to us.

"Spiri-what?" Dean echoed confusedly.

"_Vitae_. It's Latin – translates to 'breath of life', kinda like your life force, or essence." Sam answered.

"The doctor. He said it was like the children's bodies were wearing out." I supplied, leaning forward off of Dean momentarily so I could take my jacket off. I folder it over the armrest and went back to my earlier position, Dean's hand found mine and he took it, our fingers interlocked and I smiled a little.

These were some of the moments I liked best with Dean, suddenly everything I'd been worrying about became meaningless. That, I realised, was one of the best things about Dean, he made everything ok and safe. Protected.

"It's a thought," Sam's musings broke into my thoughts, "Maybe when she takes your vitality then your immunity goes to hell – illness takes hold. The doctor said it looked like a form of pneumonia, anyway. Apparently shtrigas can feed off anyone but their prey of choice is-"

"Children." Dean finished in a grim tone.

"Yeah. Probably because they have a stronger life force. And get this – Shtrigas are 'invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man.'." I stiffened as the topic moved onto children, images of my little sister Alice filled my mind as Sam read from his laptop.

Above me Dean shook his head, "No, that's not right," He disagreed, "She's vulnerable when she feeds." He corrected.

I looked up at Dean, "What?"

"If you catch her when she's feeding you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron... either buckshots or rounds, I think." The older Winchester continued with his brow furrowed.

There was a short silence as his words settled into the air, "How do you know that?" Sam asked.

The couch jostled a little as Dean shrugged, "Dad told me. I remember he did."

"Oh," Sam said quietly, "Huh. So uh, anything else Dad might've mentioned?" His question came out slightly strained, and I knew he was wondering about the different relationships John had with both of his children.

"Nope. That's it." Dean replied, unaware about Sam's current inner turmoil.

I sat up on the sofa and turned to look at Sam, "Are you ok, Sam?" I asked, giving him a look of understanding.

"Fine," He replied in a clipped tone, "So, assuming we can kill it when it eats, we've still gotta find the thing first – which isn't gonna be a walk in the park. Shtrigas can take on a human disguise when they're not hunting." Sam's tone adjusted as he focused on the monster hunt.

I stood up from the couch and stretched, "Any particular type of human disguise?"

"Historically, something innocuous. It could be anything, but it's usually a feeble old woman – which might be how the whole 'witches as old crones' legend got started." Sam replied.

"Old woman?" I repeated, the haggard, wizened old woman from the hospital who completely creeped me out with her cross and the wheelchair came into mind.

Meanwhile, Dean had stood up from the couch too and he walked over to where his brother was and sorted through Sam's spread out papers until he found a map of the town, "I marked down all the addresses of the victims, now check this out," Dean gestured to the map, I moved over to get a better look at what Dean was trying to get at, "Now, _these _are the houses that have been hit so far, and look at what's dead centre."

"The hospital." I said, tilting my head curiously as I looked down at the map.

"Yep, the hospital." Dean nodded.

I snapped my fingers, a spark flew but I didn't bother with it, "When we went to the hospital to see the kids I saw a patient – an old woman."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks and he leant forward in his chair, "An old person, huh?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"In a hospital?" Dean's eyes widened and he and Sam shook their heads and sniggered.

"Gee, Steph. We better call the Coast Guard." Sam said in a serious tone, a playful smile on his face.

I narrowed my eyes at the two idiots, "Well listen, you assholes – she was super creepy and scary looking, with her hair and wheelchair and drawn curtains, and that weird inverted cross." I said. On _inverted cross _the boys stopped their chortling and looked up at me seriously, I crossed my arms and raised a smug eyebrow, "See?"

**T**

It seems the boys had taken my description very seriously, because not an hour later we were hurrying down the hallways of the hospital, we rounded a corner but quickly retreated back when we saw Dr. Heidecker. We backed away until we found a prescription desk, the nurse attending was nowhere to be found so we all jumped over it. We all crouched together in silence, I held out a hand in front of me so I could read the air carefully.

"Goodnight, Dr. Heidecker." A nurses voice echoes down the hall towards us.

"See you tomorrow, Betty." I recognised the doctor's voice and I wondered briefly whether he was talking to the same nurse who was helping him from earlier.

"Try to get some sleep." Betty advised him.

_Hey, maybe you should take that advice. Aren't you exhausted right now?_

I blinked against the sudden weighted feeling of fatigue that the reminder bought on and shook my head in an effort to fight against it. The air shifted beneath my palm as someone walked past where the three of us were hiding, accompanied footsteps that echoed around the hallways confirmed someone leaving. Another set of footsteps approached, more heavy and slowed – Dr. Heidecker's I had no doubt, when he past by us without faltering we counted very slowly to fifteen before straightening up.

I led the boys down the hall until we came to the right door, I nodded to the boys and took out the gun they had given me, they drew their own guns and nodded back. Carefully, I tried the door handle and eased it open, stepping in first quietly. The lights were off like they were the first time, the only source of light was coming in through the gaps of the blinds from the street lamps outside. The old woman was in her wheelchair like she was when I last saw her, her shoulders were moving up and down evenly and slowly – as if she was sleeping.

Dean moved cautiously towards the woman and whilst Sam and I hung back by the door, our guns trained on the patient in the chair. Slowly, far too slowly, Dean inched closer to the woman, nearing her face. Everything was silent. No one dared breath but the old woman.

In a flash, the woman's head snapped to Dean, "Who the hell are you?!" She demanded in an old, wiry tone. Dean freaked out, leaping back and colliding with the wall cabinet. I'd have pulled the trigger if it weren't for Sam holding up his hand, stopping me. The woman looked around on her other shoulder at us, "Who's there? You trying to steal my stuff?" She accused, "They're always stealing around here."

Sam fell against the wall in shock, his arm moving around the wall until he found the switch. Once the lights flicked on the woman looked around at Dean, her grey eyes were clouded.

_Clouded eyes? That's Cataracts. Kenspeckle told us about it. You know... before Clarabelle killed him with those scalpels. _

"She's got Cataracts." I mouthed to Dean, pointing to my eyes helpfully.

"No, ma'am, we're just maintenance," Sam assured the women, "We're sorry, we thought you were sleeping." He apologised quickly.

"Oh nonsense, I was sleeping with my peepers open," She let out a throaty laugh and pointed to the wall behind Dean, "And fixed that crucifix, would ya? I've asked four damn times already!"

Dean moved over to the crucifix and tapped it with a shaking hand, it was just positioned wrong on the wall, and it swung the right way around to a normal looking cross. After he'd fixed the cross Dean back away from the woman slowly, his gun still drawn.

Once the three of us were out in the hallway and I had shut the door I leant against it and closed my eyes, "Jesus." I whispered.

"And _that_," Dean's voice made me open my eyes again, "Is why we're never gonna listen to Steph again."

Beside him, Sam started laughing, causing Dean and I to look at him curiously, "What's so funny?" I asked.

"I was sleeping with my peepers open." Sam barely managed to quote before falling into a fit of laughter again.

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head, but a grin slowly won my mouth over as Sam laughed harder. "Come on, I just wanna check on these kids – see if any of them are awake again, you know?" I pushed myself off of the wall and walked down towards the Children's Ward, the whole hallway was lit up from the bright fluorescent lighting overhead. The air shifted behind me, telling me I didn't have to look around to know the boys were close behind me, when we reached the Children's Ward I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame because someone had turned the lights off. A grim silence had buried it's hooks into this ward among the dying children, and it lingered in their shallow breaths.

Dean came up behind me as I stared at the children in their beds, "None of them are awake." He said.

"Mmm." I agreed, looking at the machine beside the bed nearest to us. Curiously, I approached the bed and studied the young girl laying in it, her skin was pale and sickly – as expected, and her chest rose quickly in short breaths, as if she was struggling to fill her lungs with enough air. Her hair was as dark as mine, and I couldn't help but think of little Alice as I stood there in the dark. "We have to find this witch," I said in an oddly quiet voice as I turned to the boys, "Before they start dying," I turned back to the girl and took a deep breath, steeling myself, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

**T**

Sam was still laughing as the three of us jumped out of the car outside the motel, "I was sleeping with my peepers open. Oh God, that was funny."

Dean rolled his eyes at his brother, "I almost smoked that old girl, I swear," He shook his head and frowned as Sam kept laughing, "It's not funny!"

"You should've seen your face!" Sam teased, collapsing into giggles again. I stared at the younger Winchester in amusement, whilst Dean huffed beside me.

"Yeah, laugh it off. Now we're back to square one." He said with an irritated edge to his tone, he looked away from Sam and moved away from where we were standing, "Hang on."

"Where are you going?" I called out to him, but he didn't reply. I scoffed and looked back at Sam, who seemed to be recovering from his bout of laughing. I sighed, not really wanting to spend any more time alone with Sam, especially not since... I blinked and shook my head, snapping out of it, "Come on." I told him, and together we followed Dean over to the motel.

Sam and I entered the lobby quickly and quietly, immediately I felt the solemn mood within. Dean was stood there talking with the mouthy boy from earlier, although he didn't look like a tough kid anymore... his eyes were wide with guilt and his expression was forlorn. "I should've made sure the window was latched," The boy was saying to Dean, "He wouldn't've got pneumonia if the window was latched."

Dean dropped his gaze with the kid, as if he was familiar with the boy's recount. I glanced up at Sam, but he was watching his brother with a thoughtful expression on his face. Finally Dean looked up at the kid, "Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault. Ok?" He said in a forced tone, as if he was trying to convince someone other than the kid.

The boy shook his head, "It's my job to look after him."

The boy's mother suddenly emerged from the door behind the desk, she was carrying her handbag and two overnight bags, "Michael, I want you to turn on the no vacancy sign while I'm gone. I've got Denise covering room service so don't bother with any of the rooms." She ordered in a shaking tone, her eyes were red and puffy, bloodshot from crying for so long.

The boy stood up from his chair behind the desk and trailed after his mother as she struggled with the door. "I'm going with you." He protested, but it wasn't as nearly as strong as it was earlier when he stood up to his mother.

"Not now, Michael." The mother said in an exhausted tone as she hurried out to her car, the boy close on her heels. The three of us slowly followed, lingering outside on the pavement as we watched the mother and son.

"But I gotta see Asher!" Michael pressed.

Dean jogged over to where the family was, he crouched down next to Michael and put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey Michael. Hey. I know how you feel – I'm a big brother too..." Dean glanced back at Sam with a small smile, "But you've gotta go easy on your Mum right now, ok?"

Michael nodded as his mother dropped her handbag as she tried to load the car in her shaking haste, "Dammit!" She cursed, leaning back against the car and lifting both her hands to her head.

Sam and I ran over to help, Sam grabbed her handbag whilst I took the night bags and loaded them into the passenger seat, "We've got it." Sam smiled at her as she took her handbag again.

"Thank you." She said gratefully, turning and giving me a smile.

I returned it and she wiped her teary eyes. Dean straightened up and touched her arm, "Listen, you're in no condition to drive – why don't you let me give you a lift to the hospital?" He offered.

The woman shook her head, "No, I couldn't possibly..."

"No, it's no trouble. I insist." Dean cut her off, taking her keys.

Michael's mother gave in and her shoulders relaxed a little, "Thanks," She breathed, then she turned to her son, "Be good." She told him as Dean helped her into the car.

After she was in safely Dean turned to Sam and I, "We're gonna kill this thing. I want it dead, you hear me?"

**T**

**Author's Note:**** Cliffhanger! I'm so sorry for the late update guys, spoiler alert: college SUCKS. I mean, Drama's great but English sucks and Sociology's fucking boring. This episode wasn't really a particular favourite of mine and I've decided to write this one in two parts because I didn't want to post a 20'000 word chapter. So what did you guys think of this one? Tell me in your reviews below and if you have twitter go check out itsStephEdgely to get a different side of updates from Val and the boys. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Winchester and Cain**

**Chapter – 18 Part 2**

**Author's Note:**** Part 2 of Something Wicked is here! **

"_You're hiding something from me." Dean said from behind me. _

_I __stiffened__ and turned to him, "What?" _

"_I don't know what it is... but you've been lying to me – and Sam's in on it too, I know he is. Steph, you can tell me anything. You know that, right?" _

_My eyes narrowed a fraction __as I forced__ a smile on my face, "Dean, I'm fine." I insisted. _

_The older Winchester arched an eyebrow, "You really expect me to believe that?" _

_I refused my smile to waver as I stepped towards him slowly, deliberately, "Yes, I do. Because we trust eachother, Dean..." I tilted my head and stroked his cheek __delicately__, "You do trust me, don't you?" _

I gasped and lifted my head up from the desk I'd been resting on, after realising what had happened, I sighed and hid my face in my hands, "Oh _fuck_!" I whispered into my palms.

"Hey, you're awake." I lifted my head up to see Sam take his seat next to me, we were in the library, and Sam had collected all manners of books and printed sheets of paper and strewn them in front of us.

"Why'd you let me fall asleep?" I groaned.

Sam looked at me and scoffed, "Is that a joke? Steph you look _exhausted_."

"I'm fine." I sighed exasperatedly, "You and Dean – both of you need to leave me be, let me handle it, ok? I'm not some fragile girl that needs to be coddled."

"...So you gonna tell me what you've been dreaming about lately?" Sam asked after a pause.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I stared at the younger Winchester, mulling over his question, "At first, I thought they were flashbacks."

"Huh?"

"Flashbacks," I repeated, "Of when I was _her_, Sam." I gave him a look and silently braced myself, gauging his reaction. But Sam's expression remained unreadable as he stared at me, "Since that night, I've been dreaming of the moment Mordechai stabbed me," My hand instinctively went to my chest as I remembered it, "I've been dreaming about when Darquesse escaped that house, and..." I dropped my gaze from Sam and stared at my hands in my lap.

"You've been dreaming about what we did." Sam finished for me.

I winced a little, "Yeah."

"So... flashbacks?" Sam asked.

I shrugged, "I figured they were, now I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?"

I thought for a moment, then scoffed and shook my head, "No. No way am I sitting here whining about something so - so _trivial_."

The younger Winchester put his hand on mine, his warm palm gently brushing against the top of my hand before I let our fingers intertwine. I froze and looked up at him, Sam's brown eyes stared into mine as he tried to peer behind the wall I had.

When all these feelings began coming to life within me I dropped my stare with Sam and looked at our hands together, on one side it felt forbidden and wrong, but on another it felt so _right_. Sam opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by his phone buzzing loudly on the table, with a sigh Sam took his hand off of mine and answered it, "Hello?" He said, keeping his eyes on me. "Hey Dean, how's the kid?" When he said who it was I retracted my hand from Sam's and looked away. "Steph and I are at the library, we've been trying to find out as much as we can about the Shtriga," Sam's lie came so effortlessly easy for him, but it didn't make me feel any easier, "Well, bad news actually, you know that hunt Dad did in Fort Douglas with you way back? Yeah, it's the same deal. Before that there was, ah," Sam scrambled around with the papers on the table until he found the one he was looking for, "_Ogdenville_, before that _North_ _Haverbrook_ and _Brockway_… every fifteen to twenty years it hits a new town. Dean, I think this thing is just getting started in _Fitzburgh_ and in all these other places it goes on for months. Dozens of kids die before the Shtriga finally moves on, the kids just sorta… languish in comas before they die." I pulled a face as Sam finished reading, in the brief silence I could hear the sound of Dean's voice through the speaker, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Instead Sam started shuffling through the papers in front of him, "Ah, I don't know. The earliest mention I could find is this place called _Black River Falls _dating back to the 1890s. Talk about a horror show..." Sam paused as he picked up a page with a grainy black and white photo on it, "Whoa." He muttered. I frowned and wheeled my chair over to him, stopping when my chair was up against his and our legs were touching, I squinted at the photo, trying to see what he was looking at, then it hit me. "Dean, we're looking at a photo right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kid's bed. One of them is Heidecker. And this picture was taken in 1893." I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the sickly child in the photo and then Heidecker, next to me Sam was nodding his head as if Dean was able to see, "Yeah, absolutely sure Dean. Dean?" He lifted the phone away with a sigh, "He hung up on me."

**T**

"You know we should've though of this before, right?" I said as soon as Dean walked through the motel door, "A doctor's a perfect disguise, you're trusted _and _you can control the whole thing."

Dean nodded as he threw down his jacket but didn't sit, instead he paced agitatedly, "That son of a bitch."

"I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there." Sam arched an eyebrow at his brother from on the sofa next to me.

"Yeah well, first of all, I'm not going to open fire in a freakin' paediatrics ward." Dean shrugged.

I did a little sideways smirk, "Always a good call."

"Second of all," Dean continued, "It wouldn't have done any good, because the bastard's bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something," He said matter-of-factly, "And third, I wasn't packing," He admitted, looking down at his jacket, "Which is probably a really good thing, 'cause I probably would have just burned a clip in him on principle alone."

Sam chuckled, "You're getting wise in your old age, Dean."

"Damn right," Dean nodded fiercely, putting a smile on my face, "'Cause now I knew how we're going to get him."

I tilted my head in interest, "How do you mean?"

"The Shtriga. It works through siblings, right?" Dean prompted, taking charge.

"Right."

"Well, last night..." The elder Winchester trailed off and raised his eyebrows at Sam and I.

"It went after Asher." I finished.

"So I'm thinking tonight it's probably gonna come after Micheal." Dean shrugged.

Sam nodded, "Well, we gotta get him out of here." He stood up and went to pass Dean, but his brother pushed against his chest.

"No. No, no, no, that would blow the whole deal." Dean shook his head.

"What?" Sam frowned.

"Yeah." Dean glanced at me and I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out what he was getting at, then it clicked.

"You want to use the kid as bait." I realised, running a hand through my hair.

Sam gave his brother a look, "Are you insane? No! Forget it, Dean. That's so far out of the question."

"It's not," Dean insisted seriously, "Guys, it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance."

I stood up from my seat, "Dean, Micheal's just a boy," I chewed my lip nervously, "This doesn't exactly sound like a watertight plan."

Dean shook his head, "Dad did not send me here to walk away."

I scoffed, "Send _you _here?" I repeated, "He didn't send you here – he sent _us _here. We're a team, remember, _princess_?" I drawled.

Dean sighed and rubbed his left eye, "You don't get it. This isn't about you or Sam. I'm the one who screwed up, alright? It's my fault, and there's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me." He admitted in a stressed tone.

Sam and I glanced at eachother in confusion, "What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?" Sam asked.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

The younger Winchester heaved a sigh, "Dean. You've been hiding something from the get-go. Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away? Talk to us. Tell us what's going on."

Dean walked over to the sofa and sat down, I sat next to him and Sam pulled up a chair, "Fort Douglas, Wisconsin. It was our third night in this crap room and I was climbing the walls, man. I had to get some air. I went out for a couple of hours, when I got back it was late, you were asleep," A frown creased his forehead as he remembered, "There was this strange kinda glow coming from your room, Sam. And I – I got the rifle like Dad had told me and I went in to kill it… But God help me Sam, I couldn't do it, even with it leaning over you like that." Dean took a deep breath, "That's when Dad showed up, he just grabbed us and bolted. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas the Shtriga had disappeared, it was just gone. Never resurfaced until now," Dean ran a hand through his hair and I squeezed his other one comfortingly, "You know, Dad never spoke about it again – I didn't ask. But he, ah," He paused and took a deep breath, "He looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn't listen, I almost got you killed, Sammy."

Sam shook his head, "You were just a kid."

Dean stood up from the sofa, as if Sam had shocked him, "Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it."

"But Dean," I hesitated, torn a little from disagreeing with him, "It's just, using Micheal, I don't know. I mean, how about I hide under the covers, be the bait." I offered.

Dean shook his head, "It won't work. It's gotta be close enough to feed – it'll see you and figure it out. Believe me, Steph, I don't like it. But it's gotta be the kid."

**T**

With heavy hearts, the three of us trudged downstairs to where Michael was working obediently at the desk. He looked up at us from behind his mop of hair as we approached, "Can I help you guys at all?" He asked as we stopped in front of him.

Sam and I glanced at Dean, who cleared his throat awkwardly before he started, "You ever heard of a Shtriga? It's – it's a sort of, ah, monster…" He trailed off and glanced at us uneasily, whilst the tough young boy arched a suspicious eyebrow at us, "You might've heard of it – a cloaked figure, kinda cold? Yeah, they, er, they sneak in and kinda suck the life out of you, leaving this empty shell behind until you die." Dean gave a friendly smile, but Michael's mouth remained in a straight line, I glanced down at his hand and saw it was creeping slowly towards the phone that was kept on the desk, meaning his mother was still at the hospital with her youngest son.

"Right." The boy responded, keeping his eyes locked on Dean.

"Yeah, so," Dean fumbled for the right words, "The thing is, we know where this monster's gonna be tonight, we just need a little, um, bait."

There was a moment's pause as Dean's suggestion sunk in. Then the boy's eyes widened and he snatched the phone off of the desk and held it up threateningly, "You're all crazy! Just go away or I'm calling the cops." He shouted. I winced at the volume of his tone and glanced up at the ceiling, hoping there was no one upstairs that could hear that.

_I bet you someone did. Hey, if you step aside for a moment I'll just take the wheel and go take care of it… Bet I could kill this Shtriga in five seconds._

I winced, "No thanks." Everyone turned to me and I forced a smile to show I wasn't crazy, "Sorry, I had, ah, something on my mind. Go on." I cleared my throat and looked away, waiting for them to resume.

Dean turned back to Michael but Sam was looking at me intently, "Steph can I talk to you upstairs for a moment?" He cleared his throat, taking hold of my hand and pulling me out of the lobby and up the stairs, once we'd reached our room and shut the door he bored his eyes onto me.

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling a little uncomfortable under his gaze, "What?"

"What do you think? I remember what Meg said, Steph. About her knowing about Darquesse. How you're barely holding on." Sam's big brown eyes were filled with concern.

I blinked once, letting Sam's words sink in for a moment, "Sam, I'm _fine_, ok?" I rolled my eyes and went to brush past him, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back, "Sam!" I protested, "Let _go _of me." I glared daggers at him as I tried to wrench myself away from his iron grip.

"Stop saying that then!" He snapped, pulling me away from the window of the door so Dean couldn't see us.

I finally freed myself from his grip with an irritated scoff, "Saying what?"

"Insisting you're fine all the time. You're not and I don't like it. Dean's occupied at the moment and he can't see it, or maybe he doesn't want to. But I can. Steph, please..." Sam trailed off and I stared up at him, my retort dying on my tongue as his hands rested on my shoulders, "Just slow down a little, let me help you."

_You don't need his help, you've got me_

I sighed deeply, trying to ignore his hands, "Sam how can you help me? When Darquesse becomes me, she has no care for you or Dean. Trust me," I looked away, "She'll kill you both, I know it." I muttered.

_No I wouldn't… Well, at least not immediately_

"No she won't," Sam disagreed with a shake of his head, "She's you, basically, Steph. A little darker, maybe. More twisted, sure… but it's still you," Sam's hands moved down and rested on my waist, "And I know you wouldn't hurt us, ok? I trust you, Steph… and I-" Sam's dark eyes locked onto mine and he opened his mouth, but I shook my head frantically.

"No, Sam, don't, just stop right there." I protested.

"I-."

"Don't say it, please." I hid my face in my hands.

"Stop it," Sam pulled my hands away from my face gently and his thumb stroked my cheek, "I think I love you, Steph." He said.

My legs were shaking. My head felt weird and my arms were weightless.

"Sam..." I bit my lip, "You can't, ok?"

_Oh, he so can, I'm getting bored of you and Dean anyway_

"But I do, Steph." Sam insisted.

"I can't, I can't do that to Dean."

_You did it to Fletcher_

"But you haven't denied it," Sam raised an eyebrow as he studied me, "You feel something for me. I can tell."

_He's onto you, Val, better back up before he figures out what you daydream doing with him..._

"But it's _wrong_." I insisted hopelessly, "Sam I can't keep cheating on your brother, alright?"

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, "He's cheated on you." He blurted, almost angrily, then his eyes widened as his words left his mouth.

The exclamation hit me like a powerful, painful fist.

"What?" I managed after a long pause, fighting to keep a remotely calm expression on my face whilst a stormy ocean hurled inside of me.

Sam stared at me for a moment, then he reached out to my face with a sigh. I didn't move, didn't even _breathe _as his warm fingers brushed against my cheek for a second until he pulled them away, his fingertips wet and shining, "Don't cry Steph, please." He begged in a soft voice.

_Ugh, we can't be that girl who cries. Get a hold of yourself._

"I'm not crying." I said in a shaky voice, I turned my back on him and faced the wall, vaguely aware of my arms hugging myself as I tried to keep myself together under the onslaught of emotion within me.

"I'm sorry, Steph, I-"

"Who was it?" I cut him off sharply, turning back to him with a newfound strength.

Sam held my steely gaze for several seconds before he crumpled, "It was with Cassie." He muttered.

_I could've probably guessed that. I knew she was a slut. _

"Cassie?" I repeated, making sure I had the bitch's name right, then suddenly the whole situation sounded almost comical, a laugh bubbled up from my throat that I didn't attempt to contain, "No, right. Of course he had sex with Cassie, I mean, why _wouldn't _he have sex with Cassie?" I spread my arms wide in emphasis, a lamp shot off the coffee table and smashed into the wall, a chair flew into the kitchen counter and snapped apart on impact.

_You want to make an impact? Let me step in, just for a few moments, I can give Cassie a visit and be back here in no time. We'll make a weekend of it. _

"Steph, please-."

"No," I shook my head, way too far from the point of being able to be calmed down rationally, "No way. How long have you known about this, Sam?" I demanded.

_Probably ages_

"The younger Winchester stared at me for a long, drawn out moment before shrugging simply, "What does it matter, Steph?" He asked.

My eyes narrowed, "'What does it matter?', "I repeated in a slow, deliberate tone, "What does it matter? Sam, it matters to _everything_! Dean went behind my back, he made me look like a fool and you – you _knew _and didn't tell me!" Some hair fell in front of my face and I angrily brushed it away with a shaking hand, as I did so a cup on the counter flew into the wall and smashed.

"Steph, come on, that's enough. _Stop it_!" Sam ordered, trying desperately to control the situation.

I scoffed, "Why should I? Dean didn't stop from sleeping with Cassie. You didn't stop and tell me. Why do I have to stop?" I glanced down at my hands, they were still shaking. As I watched them some plates on the dinner table shot towards us, Sam moved out of the way whilst they smashed before my feet.

_That's it. Now you're getting it, if you want to see how you really break a room, just say the magic word. _

Sheer power thrashed and coiled within me, I didn't even feel the need to breathe, strong arms pinned my own behind my back, and I started struggling instantly, "Let _go _of me, Sam." I insisted with a warning tone.

"No."

I hissed in annoyance and tried to thrown him off, but credit's where it's due when it comes to Sam's strength. "Sam get off me or I start screaming."

_Want me to get us out of this?_

"Not until you calm down." Sam replied simply.

"How the _fuck _do you expect me to calm down?" I snapped.

"Like this." Sam's warm breath was suddenly in my ear as he began kissing my neck, I stopped struggling and remembered how to breathe as he continued, when he found my sweet spot he nipped it lightly and I shivered into him, my anger beginning to morph into something much more reckless. After a few more seconds Sam let go of my arms and spun me to face him, where my lips met with his.

_Well, there are worse ways I suppose you could've handled the situation…_

I ignored the drawling commentary with a newfound ignorant bliss, and after a few more agonizing seconds Sam picked me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist, then he carried me off into his room.

**T**

I jumped out of the shower and towelled myself off quickly and thoroughly, Sam was still asleep and I heard Dean come in when I was in the shower, but I'd locked the door and I wasn't going to open it up for him anytime soon. I sat on the toilet seat and pulled one of my legs up to rest my chin against my knee, beginning to feel the damming pool of regret churn within me. "What have I done?" I whispered to myself, the words barely loud enough to be heard. I wasn't even in the favourable position of blaming my dark side, because she wasn't in control when I kissed Sam the second time around… or the third, or the fourth…

She wasn't in control when Sam laid me carefully down on that bed and -

I stood up quickly and shivered in response, I wasn't regretting the sex, it was good sex. Sam had been warm, and gentle and so, _so _

I stopped again.

_Still feeling dirty, are we? _

I ignored the little jibe from my head and instead turned to the bathroom mirror, I tilted my head as I looked at myself, the tall, slim and toned girl stared back at me with pretty dark eyes and she smiled for a few seconds before it dropped. I wasn't so sure I wanted to see that smile ever again. I didn't think I could lie to Dean much longer, either.

He'd know. The next time he looked at me he'd know, he was that kind of guy. I bit my lip – I could do this, I'd lied to so many before, why was Dean any different?

_Besides, he did lie to you about Cassie, didn't he?_

I took a deep breath and looked at the girl in the mirror one last time before I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around myself. "You ask too many questions." I replied to the empty room before I unlocked the door and stepped out into the cool living room/dining room/ kitchen of the motel, the cold air rushing onto my skin, warm from the hot shower and temperature of the bathroom.

I'd accidentally left the bedroom door to the younger Winc

n hester's room ajar on my quick escape to the bathroom, I could see that Sam was still asleep on his bed, the sheets covering up his bare body so Dean wouldn't have known what I'd done with his brother. I'd had the sense to grab my clothes and innocently fold them up on the coffee table beside the radiator – to look like I was toasting them up before I put them on again.

_Well, it beats Dean finding your underwear in his brother's bed, doesn't it?_

Dean himself was in the dining room area of the room, he was sat at the kitchen table with his duffel bag on the chair beside him, some stuff was laid out before him. As I neared him I recognised the video camera from when we'd used it back in Toledo, Ohio on the Bloody Mary case, with it was a much more professional looking security camera, Dean was tinkering around with it, probably trying to figure out how to work it, rather than leave the job up to his little brother.

_Ah Dean, always looking out for his little brother… _

I rolled my eyes at the comment as I crept up behind Dean and slowly let my arms hand loosely around his neck, my hands resting on his upper chest I kissed him delicately. "Hey Steph." Dean greeted after we parted.

I smiled warmly, trying not to focus on the guilt and regret battling within me, "Heya."

"What's with the 7pm shower?" He asked, his voice slightly teasing.

I tensed a little, "Oh, I felt a little gross and thought a shower might make time pass a little quicker, Sam went and took a nap, so there wasn't much happening here whilst you were downstairs talking to Michael." I sold the lie in a slightly strained natural voice, my eyes prickling a little as I finished the explanation.

Dean stood up from his seat and shot me one of his more irresistible grins, "I was just teasing," He said, "No need to look so upset." His hands found my waist and he slowly coaxed me to let the towel fall from my shoulders, "I like you like this, all fresh and nice smelling and stuff."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, and the fact that I'm naked right now has nothing to do with that?"

Dean shrugged, "Perks."

He caught me for another kiss, but as he deepened it I suddenly thought about Cassie, and her and Dean doing it on her plush carpet where we all had tea and spoke to her Mother… I suddenly pulled away and tensed up, Dean tilted his head and frowned at me, partly in concern, partly in confusion. "Steph, is something wrong?"

I shook my head, "No, no everything's fine, it's just a little cold in here, you know?" I replied quickly, tugging the towel back over myself.

Dean's eyes squinted a fraction , but it was enough, "Well, ok..." He said, rubbing my right arm and giving me a smile.

I cleared my throat forcefully, "So what's with the camera?" I asked, indicating to the device Dean had been playing around with.

"Oh, er, Michael's agreed to go along with our little scheme so I figured we get the kid a little comfort with a security camera, just in case we don't know when to come in before the monster takes the bait." The older Winchester answered, flicking on the camera to show me.

I nodded, "Oh right, that's a good tactic." I offered a half smile as Dean shut off the camera and set it back down on the table.

The sound of a door creaking slightly made us turn, and we were met with a very sheepish looking Sam, a sheet wrapped around his torso and his hair wild and tousled.

"Well well," Dean smirked at his brother in the doorway, "Are you not sleeping enough, Sam, or did you just feel like a little nap?"

Sam idly scratched the back of his head and shrugged, "I dunno, uh, just felt like I needed to take a little break for a few hours, you know?"

Dean paused for a moment, "You're one weird, nerdy dude, Sam." He said eventually.

The younger Winchester laughed and looked down at his bare feet, "Yeah… What's with the camera?" He asked, frowning at the device on the table.

Dean picked it up and tossed it to him lazily, it sailed across the room and found itself in one of Sam's huge, spade-like hands. "I was thinking of setting it up so we have an extra pair of eyes for the kid before the monster comes in for his fix."

Sam nodded as he looked down at the camera in his hand, "Right, right, it's a good plan. I'll go get some clothes on and, uh, get my computer to get a security feed going." He jerked his thumb back to his bedroom awkwardly.

I forced an eyeroll, "You do that, Sam. Me and Dean are gonna go set up the bait room and get some more ammo."

The younger Winchester caught my eyes just for a fleeting moment – a mere second where everything Sam and I did together in that room just a mere hour ago came rushing up to the surface… and then Sam shut the door and the memory dispelled.

I turned back to Dean and squeezed his hand, "I'll go put some clothes on, and then we'll go set up that room."

**T**

I stood behind Dean and chewed my lip anxiously as the older Winchester finally switched on the video camera, he turned back to me and raised his eyebrows in a smug, cocky smirk as the camera beeped in confirmation of working. I rolled my eyes at him and we both peered into the lens of the device, the lens showed us our darkened reflections, but I knew there was someone looking back at us; Sam, in the room next door, was sat at his laptop watching the live feed with no issues. "Are we good, Sam?" Dean called to his brother, knowing he could hear.

"A hair to the right," Sam's muffled reply drifted to us, I reached out with a poised, fluid movement and adjusted the camera just a few millimetres to Sam's right, "There, you got it."

Just as I flicked the camera to night vision mode the door swung open and Michael walked in, "So what do I do?" He asked as he sat down onto the bed.

Dean stood up and crossed the room to sit next to him, "All you need to do is stay under the covers." He explained simply, his tone friendly.

Michael nodded slowly, "And if it shows up?"

"We'll all be right in the next room," I tried assuring the boy, "We'll come in with guns, so as soon as we do, all you have to do is roll off the bed and get under it as fast as you can."

The kid didn't look too convinced, "But what if you shoot me?"

Despite the situation, and the dangerous plan, Dean cracked a small smile, "We won't shoot you. We're good shots. And we're not gonna open fire until you're in the clear, ok?"

Michael took a small breath, and he nodded tentatively, so I lowered down until I was eye-level with him, "Have you heard a gunshot before, Michael?" I asked.

"Like in the movies?"

I laughed lightly, "I'm afraid it's gonna be a lot louder than in the movies. So I want you to stay under the bed and cover your ears. Do_ not _come out until we say so, yeah?" I looked at him seriously.

Michael blinked at me twice, "Uh-uh." He agreed, his voice a sort of squeaking whimper.

"Hey, are you sure you want to do this?" Dean frowned at him. After Michael didn't answer, the older Winchester ran a hand through his hair, giving me the only sign that he was stressing out about the boy's safety, "You don't have to, it's ok. I won't be mad or anything."

Finally, Michael gave us a shaky grin, "No I'm ok," He said, "Just don't shoot me."

Dean returned the grin, but it didn't meet his eyes, "We're not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."

I looked at the flimsy covers of the bed and felt a little nauseous - if one of us actually _did _hit Michael, then there couldn't be anything to help him until the monster was dead… if we killed it, that is…

_Hey, I'll be there the whole time. What could go wrong with me there? I'll even take the wheel if you're not feeling up to it. _

**T**

"_Oh my dear," A smooth, corrupting voice sounded behind me as a hand rested on my shoulder, I didn't shrug it off as I continued to look ahead of me, "We're in the position of a… partnership, you and I. I feel as if we could both be," The owner of the voice paused for a moment, but I didn't care, "Very helpful to one another, don't you think?" I turned slowly to face the stranger, their face shrouded in shadow. _

My eyes sprung open and I sat up, trying to act like I'd not just had another one of those crazy flashback-dream things. The three of us were all sat around Sam's laptop watching our security feed, on the screen you could see the grainy outline of the bed, and the small misshapen lump indicating Michael. "What time is it?" I asked in a tired voice, leaning against Dean's shoulder and stifling a yawn.

"Almost three," Sam answered, checking his watch, "Dean, are you sure these rounds are gonna work?"

Dean kept his eyes glued to the screen, watching Michael carefully, "Consecrated iron rounds, and yeah, it's what Dad used the last time."

There was a short interval of silence, during which I allowed my mind to wander, where I began to speculate on my latest dream. What could it mean? Who was that proposing some sort of _partnership_? Was I me or… _other _me?

"Hey Dean?" Sam's voice broke the quiet, "I'm sorry."

Sam's brother shifted, and I inwardly stiffened.

_Oh no, here it comes. The confession to end everything. _

I ignored Darquesse but my stomach coiled and thrashed in fear – what if Sam tells him what we did? What if - "For what?"

The younger Winchester's broad shoulders shrugged helplessly, beside Dean I braced myself, "You know, I've given you a lot crap, for always following Dad's orders. But now, I finally get why you do it."

My mind heaved a huge, relieved sigh. Oh thank _God_.

"Oh God," Dean cringed sarcastically, but kept his eyes fixated on the screen, "Kill me now."

Sam and I laughed softly, although mine was more of a forced chuckle to hide my anxiety. Dean suddenly leant forward in his seat, I moved my head off of Dean's shoulder and yawned again, "Wait, look."

I paid all my attention to the security feed, there was no movement where Michael lay, but in the corner of the room, where moonlight highlighted the night vision colour tones, a fleeting shadow crossed over the square on the floor, cutting it off for less than a moment. I narrowed my eyes and concentrated all my attention onto the film, maybe it was a trick of the light, maybe… the window slowly slid open, a thin, almost skeletal hand reached inside. My hand reached for my gun off the table as Sam and Dean did the same, "Do we go now?" I whispered as the Shtriga entered the room, the shredded drags of cloak that hid it's gruesome body flowed slightly in the night breeze from the open window.

Dean shook his head, "Not yet."

I glanced at him but didn't fight against him, I held my position and sat frozen in my chair as the Shtriga moved towards Michael and leant over the bed. I couldn't imagine what Michael must be thinking, probably wondering why the _hell _we weren't in the room yet. The Shtriga lowered what must have been his head and opened something that looked like a mouth, I gave Dean a panicked glance, "_Dean_!" I hissed, giving him a shove. He'd been watching the scene with wide distant eyes, his mind clearly elsewhere as he watched the monster… probably reliving that night when he was alone with Sam in his mind. The boys jumped up and we bolted for the door, I snapped my palm out and the door blasted open, the three of us bursting in with our guns raised and aimed at the dark figure.

"Michael get down!" Dean yelled, I waited until he rolled safely under the bed before opening fire, the Shtriga saw it coming and moved clear of the bullets, I threw the gun down and held both my hands out, the Shtriga was suddenly thrown into the wall and pinned, giving the boys an easy target.

The Shtriga died with a final twisted, inhuman scream that made me wince.

Once I was certain it was dead, I let my hands drop and the force that held the monster to the ground disappeared, and Shtriga slumped to the floor. Dean sighed in relief and approached the Shtriga, his gun by his side, but not yet holstered. He nudged the fallen monster with his foot and relaxed, glancing back at Sam and I with a smile. With a perfect assassin's haste, the Shtriga rose, one of it's skeletal claws snaked around Dean's throat and slung him into the wall, I cried out in shock when I heard the sickening crunch that followed, my hand reaching out and gripping Sam's in fear.

"Dean!" Sam roared in panic, the air shifted wildly and the Shtriga suddenly appeared next to Sam, throwing him across the room and ripping him away from me. I stumbled from the force of Sam's momentum and crashed into the dressing table, the mirror falling with me, I shielded my face with my arms as shards fell down on me. Meanwhile, Dean was slowly coming to and the Shtriga had shifted all its attention onto Sam, two withered, inhuman hands had prised the younger Winchesters' mouth open, while one of Sam's arms struggled to reach for something to use as a weapon. Like a mirage, something shifted in the space between Sam and the Shtriga, but I knew what it was doing, the younger Winchester slowed his movements and his skin paled, like a fish on land drawing it's final breaths.

I struggled to shaky feet, glass crunched beneath them as I staggered towards the Shtriga and Sam, "Hey!" I roared, but the monster gave me no attention. Tapping into my seemingly ongoing rage, I flexed my fingers and a wall of shadows slammed into the creature, the tendrils tearing at it's cloak and scoring across it's shadowed face. The Shtriga backed away, one of it's arms reaching up to protect it's injured face, without further hesitation, I snapped my palm out and one of the guns whisked into my grip. I snapped back the safety and raised it to the monster just as it recovered, firing a shot straight into it's face, right between its clouded white eyes.

The creature crumpled to the floor and Sam lay gasping in great lungfuls of air on the floor, by the wall Dean slowly got to his feet, a hand on the side of his forehead, "You ok little brother?" The eldest Winchester managed, his voice dull with pain.

Sam managed a thumbs up and I bent down to offer him a hand, he grasped it and I hauled him to his feet, then we joined Dean to look down at the dying Shtriga, little wispy blue orbs of energy were collecting out of it's mouth. I handed Dean back his gun and he wasted no time in firing three bullets straight into it's chest, his expression rigid and stony. The last of the light escaped the Shtriga before the creature disintegrated upon itself, crumbling to ash and then to nothing.

There was a shuffling by the bed as Michael crawled from under it, "So it's gone?" He asked, his eyes wide.

I smiled and walked over to the boy, resting a badly cut up hand on his shoulder, "Yep. It's gone." I confirmed, smiling back at the boys, meeting Sam's eyes for a few seconds before looking away. When I looked back up he was still staring at me, his expression unreadable.

**T**

"So what are we having today, burger or grilled steak?" Dean gave me a smirk as we loaded the last of our bags into his car, one of my hands was bandaged and Dean sported a charming bruise on his forehead from when he was thrown into the wall.

I scoffed and shook my head, "You know, surprisingly I think I'll stick with coffee today."

"Woah, Steph, way to push the boat out." Dean snorted as he closed the trunk of his car.

"Hey, at least I'm having something stronger than Salad-Boy over there." I held my hands up in defence, pointing at Sam.

The sound of a throat clearing made us all turn, "Joanna," Sam greeted the motel's owner warmly, "How's Asher doing?" He asked.

"Have you three seen Michael?" The woman asked, rubbing her tired, heavy lidded eyes.

Michael ran outside from reception, "Mum! Mum!" He called.

Joanna enveloped her son into a tight embrace, suddenly the overwhelming Motherly fretting Joanna was doing reminded me of my own Mother back home with Alice, trying to convince her to eat her toast in the kitchen whilst her Father hummed a _Thin Lizzy _song as he happily burned his own batch of toast.

"I've got some good news," Michael's Mother jolted me out of my daydream, "Your brother's gonna be fine."

The kid grinned, "Really?"

"Yeah. No one can explain it – it's a miracle! They're gonna keep him overnight for observation and then he's coming home." She replied, her eyes welling with grateful tears.

"Aww," I smiled, "That's great."

"How are all the other kids doing?" Sam asked.

"Good," The woman nodded, "Rea good, actually. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward's going to be like a ghost town."

Sam tilted his head, "Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Heidacker?"

Joanna shrugged, "Oh, he wasn't in today. I think he must have been sick or something."

"Yeah," Dean agreed, always the perfect liar, "Yeah, he must have."

The Mother turned to her son, "So did anything happen while I was gone?"

Michael glanced at us with a small smirk, "Nah, same old same old."

His Mother smiled and ruffled his hair, "Ok, so do you wanna go see Ash?"

Michael's expression lit up and he did that adorable little gasp that kids do when they're excited, "Now?"

Joanna nodded and Michael shot off towards the car in record time, I smiled as we watched him go, "I, ah, I'd better get going before he hotwires the car and drives himself." She gave us a parting smile and headed over to where Michael was stood beside their car.

Sam suddenly sighed, "It's too bad."

I frowned at him confusion whilst Dean shrugged it off, "Oh, they'll be fine."

"No no, that's not what I meant. I meant Michael. He'll always know there are things out there in the dark – he'll never be the same, you know?" The younger Winchester rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away, "Sometimes I just wish that..." He trailed off and looked down at his shoes.

I tilted my head, "What?" I pressed.

Sam looked up at me and gave me a small, impish grin, "I wish I could have that kinda innocence."

The three of us were silent as Joanna's car pulled out of the carpark, "Well," Dean finally spoke up, "If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could too." Dean being Dean, the anti-chick-flick guy, got into the car pretty quickly.

Sam turned to me, "I never thanked you for saving me last night."

I gave a small shrug in return, "Don't mention it."

"Right," The younger Winchester cleared his throat, "Are we ever gonna talk about what we did before last night?" He asked carefully, gazing at me intently.

I held his stare for a long moment before I shook my head minutely, "Like I said, Sam. Don't mention it."

**Author's Note:**** Part 2 is FINALLY here! I'm so so so so so so sorry this is so late, I had my birthday last month, and college is succeeding in crushing my spirit. Which sucks. Anyways, I've been juggling some great ideas about the season finale – DID YOU GUYS GET THE LITTLE *HINTS* FROM THIS CHAPTER?! Let me know in your reviews below if you did ;) ****Don't forget to check Steph's adventures out on Twitter! itsStephEdgley**

Word Count: 7,358 words 15 pages


	20. Chapter 20

**Winchester and Cain **

**Chapter 20 – Provenance **

**Author's Note:**** Hey guys! Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews – they mean so much! **

**And in response to Warrant-For-Arrest's question: **

**Bro, I totally started out writing this with the plan of having Val with no one, but I think I had Dean/Val because someone asked for it… but in reality I don't know, I prefer Sam to Dean myself (don't hit me, ok?) so maybe that's why I had it shifted. Hmm but now? I have no idea, I definitely ship Darquesse/Sam – who here agrees? **

"… Seven, Four, Two, Zero." I finished giving the guy at the bar my number. He was cute, with dark blonde hair and shy blue eyes.

The guy grinned, showing bright teeth, "Alright, you're in there. Perfect. So is that Lily with two 'l's or one?"

I smirked at Dean over my shoulder before looking back at the guy, "One." Dean gestured to me to come over and I touched the guy's shoulder seductively, "Call me." I smiled flirtatiously and walked over to Dean. "Ok, so you owe me five dollars." I grinned whilst Dean rolled his eyes as he dug into his jeans pocket; we had a competition on who could pick up someone the fastest in a new bar, the outstanding score since Dean and I had started playing was 4-2 to Dean, I guess it was 4-3 now.

"You cheated." The older Winchester replied sullenly as he handed the money over.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him as I tucked the money away, "You're such a sore loser, Dean."

"I am not!" Dean protested.

"You are too!" I argued childishly, a playful smile tugging on my lips, "Maybe you're losing your touch, Winchester." I teased.

"Guys! I think we've got something." Sam interrupted us, almost impatiently.

I showed Dean's lost earnings to Sam with a wry smirk, "Oh yeah, me too. Dean's off his game," I glanced to Dean smugly, "I guess he can't take the pressure."

"I still got that girl's number," The older Winchester rolled his eyes as he pointed to a young girl sitting at the bar, one of her hands lazily playing with a strand of her hair, "By the way Sam, she's got a friend over there. I could possibly hook you up, what do you think?" He elbowed his brother and grinned, but Sam shook his head.

"No thanks, Dean, I can get my own dates."

"Yeah you can, but you don't." Dean muttered, Sam's gaze flickered to me and my hand reached down and grasped Dean's.

"So," I cleared my throat forcefully, "What did you find, Sam?"

Sam's eyes narrowed a fraction and I swear I saw his jaw clench a little, but nevertheless he grabbed the local newspaper on the table he'd been sat on and showed us an article, "Here, Mark and Ann Telesca of New Paltz in New York were both found dead in their own home a few days ago. Their throats were slit but there were no prints or murder weapons, all the doors and windows were locked from the inside." Sam paraphrased the article, he looked back up at Dean and I expectantly, to my surprise, Dean let go of my hand and walked over to the bar.

I frowned, "Dean!" I called to him, but he ignored me, "What the _hell _is he doing?" I asked Sam in irritation, not particularly wanting an answer. As soon as Dean got to the bar, I saw the two girls he was talking to earlier make a beeline for him, I rolled my eyes and slumped in my chair.

Sam took the chair next to me and opened his mouth, "Steph, -."

"Don't Sam." I cut him off in a sharp tone. I sat in a stony silence while Sam sat in an uncomfortable one, Dean finally came back with drinks for all of us, his expression relaxed, as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah Sam, I don't think this is one for us, it could just be a garden variety murder you know? Not our department." The older Winchester said as he sat down, sliding the two remaining drinks to Sam and I.

"No, Dad says different." Sam disagreed.

Dean frowned as he took a swig of his beer, "What do you mean?"

Sam pulled out John Winchester's journal and opened it on the most recently marked page, he lay the book down and showed us a map that had been cut out from a different book and stuck into this one, as I peered at the small printed lettering, I found the map to show the upstate area of New York. The younger Winchester's finger traced over the map until he found what he was looking for and tapped it, "Dad noted three murders in the same upstate New York area. The first on was here in 1912," Sam's finger moved to a different point of the page, "Second one right here in 1945, and the third in 1970 – the same M.O. as the Telescas. Their throats were all slit, their doors and windows all locked from the inside. Now, so much time had passed between murders that nobody checked the pattern, except Dad, and he was keeping his eyes peeled for another one."

I smiled, looking back up to Sam, "And now we've got one."

"I guess it _is _worth checking out," Dean mused, "We can't pick this up till first thing tomorrow though, right?"

Sam nodded, putting the journal away, "Yeah."

Dean smirked, "Great," He reached over and put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him, "Come on, Steph, lets stay out to night, grab a couple of beers, head back to the motel..." He trailed off, letting his suggestion hang in the air. Part of me wanted to stay out – to act like I had no idea he'd cheated on me and I'd cheated on him. But then again, another part of me wanted to shrug his hand off and leave him with the two bimbos at the bar…

"Steph, you with us?" Sam waved his hand in front of my face and I blinked back into reality.

I gave the younger Winchester a genuine smile, "Yeah sure, I'll meet you at the bar, Dean." Dean nodded and walked off, leaving Sam and I alone. "You don't mind, do you, Sam?"

He broke out into a smile, as if what I'd said was a light joke, then he shook his head, "No, Steph, I don't mind at all."

I reached out and gently touched his palm lightly, before I stood up and unzipped my jacket, pulling it off to reveal the skintight protective tunic underneath. I put the jacket down and faltered, looking down at myself where Sam was staring, "What?"

Sam shook his head, his cheeks reddening, "Nothing, nothing, just, ah." He forced a cough and grabbed his beer tightly.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my drink, "I'm not even gonna go into this," I scoffed, directing all my anger onto the younger Winchester, "Have a nice night Sam, try not to stare at my ass as I walk away now, won't you?" I turned and stalked away over to Dean, giving the two girls who were practically drooling over my boyfriend a fiery glare, yet the power surging in my veins had never felt colder.

**T**

I didn't exactly know what time Dean and I left the bar last night, but we didn't make it back to the motel, instead we took shelter from the cold in Dean's Impala. Well, more than just shelter, I guess… I woke with my head on Dean's bare chest, one of his hands was entangled in my hair and the other was curled across my lower back, his fingertips just touching the lightweight emergency blanket Dean had found in the trunk last night. I sighed tiredly and closed my eyes lazily; there wasn't anything in this world I wanted to get up for right now. When I felt the air shift lightly against my left palms I opened my eyes slowly, meeting Sam's as he stared at me through the passenger window we'd left open.

Sam didn't speak any words, not that any were needed in our silent exchange, I gazed at him and he stared back at me, without breaking eye contact, then I blinked and he reached in and held one of his fingers on the horn button for a long, drawn out second.

Dean jerked awake and I gritted my teeth as the loud noise reverted through my hangover-induced headache, "Sam!" Dean snapped angrily as I pulled the blanket up over us, "What the hell, man? Get outta here!"

"Ok, ok! I'll go grab the bags from the motel, then we can leave town." Sam held his hands up and walked off.

Dean shook his head and looked at me apologetically, "I'm sorry about Sam, he can be a pretty annoying younger brother sometimes." I shrugged in response, handing Dean his shirt with a quick peck on his cheek before focussing on my own clothes.

**T**

After Sam had come back we went straight to the Telesca Residence to sweep it with EMF, despite Sam's research last night on the house saying that nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened there, but the weird thing was: it had been emptied out. Completely, there was nothing left behind, not even a spare chair or something. So, Sam had suggested an idea to where the Telesca furnishings had gone, and I had to say – it wasn't a bad one.

We pulled into the car park and were immediately met with a line of expensive cars, we parked next to one with a private number plate that read_ 'The Krip'_, the car pulled to a stop and we all jumped out, I opted to leave my jacket in the car and stretched in the sunlight. "Uh guys, I'm pretty sure this is a private auction." I frowned, eyeing the pristine cars that filled the car park.

Dean pulled a face, "Nah, we'll be fine."

Sam looked around uneasily, whilst I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, we're gonna fit right in, Dean." I drawled sarcastically as we made our way to the entrance. We opened the doors and were immediately greeted with the sound of a classical violin and the sight of women in expensive cocktail dressed and men donned in sharp suits. Everyone seemed to belong to a pack, walking around the comfortably heated warehouse and commenting on the displays.

"Consignment auctions. Estate sales," Dean scoffed and pulled a face, "Looks like a garage sale for Wasps if you ask me."

One of the various waiters carrying silver platters of champagne flutes and canapés passed by us and Dean swiped some, holding it up in thanks to the waiter who stared at him in confusion, his eyes narrowing as he looked at our clothes. I put my hand on Dean's shoulder as the waiter continued to stare, "Sorry, man. I'm afraid he's taken." I smiled sarcastically, making the waiter blush, performing a great impression of a goldfish for us.

"Can I help you three at all?" A man cleared his throat behind us, making the three of us turn.

Dean glanced at the man's immaculate, probably tailor fitted tuxedo before popping the food into his mouth, "I'd like some champagne, please." He requested, impersonating a posh tone.

I couldn't help but hide my smirk whilst Sam elbowed Dean, "He's not a waiter." He said sharply, the older Winchester raised an eyebrow whilst Sam smiled apologetically and held his hand out to the man, "I'm Sam Conners," He introduced himself smoothly, the man merely stared at Sam coldly, not reaching to greet his polite handshake, I coughed awkwardly and Sam gestured to us, "This is my brother Dean, and our business partner Stephanie. We're art dealers, with _Conners and Jones Limited_." His lie came easily, and I smiled as convincingly and politely as I could.

"You three, are… art dealers." The man repeated sceptically.

I smiled and nodded, assuming the role of a pompous and bored business lady, "That's right."

Tuxedo man's eyes flickered to me, but then focussed on Sam, "I'm Daniel Blake, this is my auction house," He drew himself up imperiously, "This is a private showing, and I don't recall seeing you three anywhere on the guest list."

Dean sighed irritatedly, "We're there, Chuckles, you just need to take another look." The waiter from earlier passed by again with champagne, pointedly avoiding eye contact with Dean. Mr Blake narrowed his eyes at Dean whilst he quickly took a glass, "Oh, finally." The older Winchester sighed gratefully whilst the waiter stopped and cocked his head as he studied Dean.

I sighed loudly and frowned at the waiter, "Oh God, you're not coming onto him are you?"

The poor waiter took off in the opposite direction, almost colliding with an elderly lady wearing gleaming pearls in the process. It took every bit of willpower not to smirk, my facial muscles battling to keep composure, whilst Dean sniffed the glass to hide his grin and walked away.

Sam grabbed my arm tightly and followed his brother hastily, dragging me with him. Dean headed over to the food whilst I grappled with Sam's steel grip on my forearm, "Sam, you're hurting me. Sam _let go _of me." I hissed as Sam led us through the aisles of displays away from the crowd, we stopped in front of a dark, gothic-style painting. Sam finally let go and I shoved him lightly, "What is your problem?" I glared, rubbing my arm.

Sam matched my glare as he towered over me, "What is yours?" He shot back, "Are you and Dean _trying _to get us kicked out of here?"

I narrowed my eyes and smirked, "Do you… care about what these people think about us?" I teased, no longer feeling the anger between us.

Sam pulled a face, "What? No! What I care about is why they've decided to display such an ugly piece of artwork." He gestured to the painting in front of us and I giggled as we turned our attention to it.

"It does look like something that should have been torn up a _long _time ago." I mused, whilst Sam shoved me lightly.

"_That's right_." The younger Winchester impersonated my tone earlier and we both burst out laughing.

"A fine example of American Primitive, wouldn't you say?" A well enunciated voice sounded behind us, Sam and I turned to see a young woman approaching us, her hair was dark like mine, and she was dressed in a sleek black dress that showed her figure perfectly, her hair in a classy style, with eyes almost as dark as mine – and completely focussed on Sam.

Our laughter died as the girl stood with us and observed the painting, Sam cleared his throat next to me, "Well, I'd say it's more _Grant Wood _than _Grandma Moses_," He announced, and I shot him an impressed glance, but his attention was no longer on me, "But you knew that, you just wanted to see if I did."

"_If I did." No 'we'? Wow, one girl in a pretty dress and you're at the back of the line, Val. I think we're losing our touch. _

The girl smiled, showing perfect white teeth, "Guilty," She admitted, "And clumsy. I apologise, I'm Sarah Blake." She introduced herself politely, her eyes not leaving Sam's.

"I'm Sam, and this is my..." He paused and the girl finally looked at me, her smile stayed on her face but her jaw clenched slightly as she looked at me, "My, uh, friend, Stephanie."

I could see it in her face, it was amazing what one small word could do to affect someone, it was like the word _friend _was an opening door for this Sarah Blake, her smile widening as she looked at me almost triumphantly. "Stephanie, that's a… lovely outfit you have there. Tailor made?"

I tilted my head a little and arched an eyebrow coolly, "What else?" You turned to Sam and smiled warmly, touching his arm lightly, my fingers brushing his skin with the barest of touches, "I'm going to find Dean."

"No need." Dean's voice behind us made me retract my hand, and I flashed Dean a grin as he approached.

"Dean, this is, um, I'm sorry what was your name again?" I frowned at the girl, feigning polite confusion. Although we both knew it was anything but.

_You're such a bitch sometimes, you know that? _

Her smile tightened a little, "It's Sarah. Sarah Blake," She turned to the older Winchester, "Dean, can we get you some more mini-quiche?" She offered, that teasing smile still on her face.

Dean smirked and shook his head, "I'm, ah, good thanks."

"So," Sarah turned back to Sam, "Can I help you with something?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, actually. What can you tell us about the Telesca estate?"

Miss Blake shrugged her slender shoulders, "The whole thing's pretty grisly if you ask me – selling their things this soon. But Dad's right about one thing; sensationalism brings out the crowds," She smiled and glanced at a passing couple, "Even the rich ones."

"Is it possible to see the provenances?" Sam pressed.

"I'm afraid there isn't any chance of that." I had to suppress an eye roll as we all turned to be met with David Blake. Again.

I raised an eyebrow challengingly and smiled, "And why's that?"

Mr Blake held my stare evenly, "Because you're not on the guest list, and I think it's time for you to leave."

Dean glanced at Sam and I, "Well," He resumed his posh tone mockingly, "We don't have to be told twice."

"Apparently you do." The man replied tightly.

"Okay," Sam surrendered for us, "It's alright. We don't want any trouble. We'll go." I gave Sarah a wry grin as the three of us walked off, leaving the Father and Daughter with the ugly painting.

**T**

We checked into the first motel we could find, but as we left the reception, Dean lingered behind. "Dean?" I called back to him, leaving Sam's side and approaching him in concern.

"You guys check into the room, I'm just gonna make a quick run for some stuff downtown." He said, reaching into his jacket office and getting his keys.

"Ok, but don't be too long." You smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I won't." He promised.

Once Dean had driven off you and Sam moved onwards to the motel room, "So, you," I smiled at Sam, "What was with the '_Grant Wood_, _Grandma Moses_'move you pulled earlier?"

Sam laughed, shaking his head in embarrassment, "Art History course. It's great for meeting girls."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, I bet."

The younger Winchester laughed again as he unlocked the door, we both paused in the doorway as we took in the outrageous 70's disco décor that dominated every inch of the room; it was like _Saturday Night Fever _had been the drive of the idiot who designed the room. "Huh." Sam muttered.

"Oh my god." I said simultaneously and Sam and I exchanged a look, sharing an amused expression. Sam dumped our bags whilst I zipped open Dean's and pulled out one of his vodka bottles, smirking as I went to the brightly coloured mini-fridge and opened it, "Awesome." You exclaimed as you pulled out a forgotten six-pack of cola cans.

Sam smirked and shook his head at me, "We're not here two minutes and you wanna get drunk?"

I tilted my head, "Problem?"

"No, no. It's just… I get what Dean sees in you, you know?" Sam shrugged.

"Do you wanna get drunk or not?"

Sam rolled his eyes and zipped open one of his own bags, pulling out a pack of beer bottles, "You really thought I didn't have my own stash either?"

**T**

"Ok, ok," I giggled as Sam poured me another drink, "What was providence? Is it a secret code that only Art History kids have?"

Sam shook his head and let out a laugh as he gave me my drink, "It's called _provenance_, Smart-ass," He corrected whilst he popped open another beer for himself, "And Art History isn't like Calculus – we were cool."

I nodded, unconvinced, "Uh-huh, you guys were the cool ones."

"Shut up, what were you like in school then, huh?" Sam challenged.

I smiled into my glass as I took a long drink, "You tell me – I stopped going years ago." I admitted.

Sam frowned, his smile becoming confused, "You did not." He said in disbelief.

I nodded seriously, "Oh yeah, stopped going when I was eleven."

The younger Winchester lowered his beer, his mouth falling open, "But how? You're -." He stopped himself and I tilted my head.

"I'm..?"

Sam shrugged, "You're just so… smart and witty, definitely not the drop-out type."

I nodded, taking another sip of my drink to hide the pink flush in my cheeks, "Ah, that's because I didn't."

"But you just said-."

"I may not have dropped out, but I haven't set foot in school since I was eleven." I continued, enjoying the look of utter befuddlement on Sam's face.

A grin slowly formed on Sam's face, "How did you do it?" I opened my mouth to pose a question, but Sam read my mind, "You're a weird magical sorcerer who was magically transported here – I'm guessing magic had something to do with it."

"Touché," I laughed, "It was a spell, I drew a symbol on my mirror and said an incantation, touched the mirror and animated my reflection."

"Wait. You _animated _your reflection?"

"Yep, it literally meant I could be in two places at once, that one went to school and was Stephanie Edgley, and I took on a knew name and became Valkyrie Cain." I smiled, enjoying Sam's expression.

He was quiet for a few seconds, "You know you never told us your real last names before."

I shrugged, "You or Dean never asked."

"Did that offend you?" Sam asked before taking another swig of his beer.

I scoffed and shook my head, "Nope, it offends me that you called me weird two minutes ago."

The younger Winchester chuckled, "What? You _are _a little out of the ordinary."

"Says the guy who has psychic visions?" I teased.

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the fun, us crazies gotta stick together."

"Cheers to that." Sam and I clinked glasses.

The motel door suddenly opened and Dean stepped in slowly, a confused smirk on his face as he took in the empty beer bottles and half empty vodka bottle that surrounded the sofa where Sam and I sat. "What's up, guys?" Dean said slowly, "I see you guys found a good way to pass the time."

"Dean," His brother greeted, "Where've you been?"

"I had to go get some stuff, and it got me thinking," Dean closed the door and put the grocery bags on the table in the cramped kitchenette, "We're not gonna get anything out of Chuckles for this case, but that Sarah chick..." Dean trailed off and gave Sam a suggestive expression.

Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, maybe I can get her to write is all down on a cocktail napkin." He drawled.

Dean shrugged, "Probably, it wasn't me she was checking out." I tried not to feel to disheartened by Dean's comment.

"So, in other words, you want me to use her to get information." Sam muttered, finishing the last of his beer and setting it down on the coffee table.

Dean gave a sympathetic expression, "Sometimes you've just gotta take one for the team. Call her."

"I don't even have her number, Dean!" Sam protested whilst I left him on the sofa going to the vodka bottle and preparing myself another drink, the bottle shook a little in my hands as I poured it into my plastic retro glass.

"I know, that's why I took a detour and picked up Miss Blake's contact details." Dean replied in a smug tone, "So you, Sammy, are gonna take this, call her up and take her to dinner." He handed his brother a post it note, "And wear a suit." He added, the younger Winchester sighed and got up from the sofa, grabbing his bag and heading to the bathroom.

I was dully aware of Dean standing behind me, allowing him to take the vodka bottle from my hands, "You know, I was counting on us getting drunk tonight, but at the same time." Dean smiled as he held up the vodka bottle.

"Well, if you'd have come back early, you could've joined the party." I shrugged.

"Ah better late than never, am I right?" Dean smirked, his eyebrow raising in the most boyish way, which I loved.

"Did I ever tell you how attractive you are?" I asked, poking him in the chest.

Dean smiled, "You may have mentioned it once or twice, yeah."

"So what stuff did you go out and buy?" I asked, glancing at the grocery bags.

The older Winchester shrugged, "Ahh, it's nothing. Doesn't matter anymore."

"Oh come on, Dean. You obviously wanted to get something, what did you get?" I rolled my eyes and walked over to the bags. Dean having the advantage of sobriety, dashed over and grabbed the bags before I could inspect them at all.

"It's nothing special, Steph. I just thought I'd get some milk and coffee stuff for tomorrow." Dean defended, holding the bags away from me.

"Right and you bought so much milk you filled two bags, come on Dean, just show me!" I was giggling now, enjoying the smile on Dean's face as he teased me with the bags.

Sam suddenly stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a crisp suit, my mouth dropped open at the sight of him.

_Holy shit._

I ran a hand through my hair, whilst frowning in confusion: what's wrong with me? I loved Dean!

_No, you _used _to love Dean, Val. _

I rolled my eyes at that stupid reminder, desperately trying to deny it, which was becoming more difficult recently.

"Dean can I borrow the car keys?" Sam asked his brother, bringing me out of my daze.

Dean threw him the keys, "Yeah, sure. Do you need any cash?"

Sam smiled, "No I've got enough. I'll see you two later." He caught my eyes shyly as he opened the door, looking as if he wanted to tell me something, I offered him a small, sad smile and then he was gone.

"So," I said, trying to rise above the conflicting feelings collecting in my chest, "What did you buy?"

"Steph I didn't get anything important, trust me," Dean shrugged again, "Why don't you just take a nap and sober up a little?" He suggested.

"Stop being difficult, Winchester." I smirked, stepping closer to him and laying a delicate hand flat on his chest, somehow the room settled even further into a deadly silence as I focused on Dean and Dean alone. I played with the buttons of his shirt, unbuttoning a few before moving up to his neck, his breathing hitched as I kissed along his jaw, making me smile against his skin.

Once he was relaxed I leaned away and snatched one of the bags, giggling with glee as I dodged away from him. "Steph come on, that was no fair!" Dean protested.

You jumped and ran over the bed to the other side of it, ignoring his objections as I looked in the back, my smile fading a little and I frowned up at Dean. "Why did you get this?" I asked, holding up some basic food ingredients. Dean stayed silent, and I emptied the bag out onto the bed, "Dean we can get takeaway in town somewhere, why'd you buy the stuff to make it?" I pressed, beginning to sober up.

"I wanted to make you a meal, you said in the car earlier that you wanted Chinese food, so I thought I'd make us some." Dean answered, giving me a guilty look.

I paused, beginning to piece it all together; how he'd gone out to get _stuff_, then come back home with a reason to get Sam out for the night… "Oh, Dean," I pulled a face at his guilty expression, "Please don't look at me like that."

"I can't help it! I'm sorry."

I laughed a little forcefully, "You're sorry? How do you think I feel, Dean? You had a lovely night planned for the both of us and I decided to get drunk with Sam!"

"You wouldn't have if I didn't go behind your back! And I'm sorry!" Dean answered, it suddenly occurred to me we were both yelling, I let his words sink in, and I knew he wasn't talking about tonight, he was talking about going behind my back with Cassie, which made me feel all the more worse because last week I fucked his brother.

It suddenly hit me that I was hurting, I was in pain after what Dean had done, and I hadn't even bothered to properly address my stand point on my relationship with Dean – which was foolish. What's more, I hadn't considered the tidal wave of guilt that had been threatening me for a while, how had I coped? How had I come to terms with the fact that I was playing Dean and Sam?

Oh right, I hadn't.

"Wow." I breathed, my knees going weak as the realisation washed over me.

"Steph? What's wrong?" Dean frowned in concern.

"Nothing," I sighed and glanced at my duffel on one of the beds, "You know what? I'm gonna, uh, I'm gonna go shower and freshen up."

**T**

I exited the bathroom in a cloud of steam and a white towel secured around my body, "Hey Dean have you seen my..." I trailed off when I saw Sam with Dean by the small dining table. "Sorry, I didn't think you were back yet." I mumbled, running a hand through my still dripping hair self consciously.

Sam shrugged whilst Dean threw me his duffel bag, "If it's your toothbrush you're looking for, you left it in mine last night."

I smiled warmly at Dean, ignoring Sam's gaze as it burned into me, "Thanks Dean." I said, my heart pounding a little as I retreated back to the bathroom. I threw down the bag half heartedly and slumped down cross-legged on the floor, trying to make sense of the conflicting emotions that swirled within me.

What Dean and I had wasn't easy, we had our fights and bickerings, the ups and downs of a real relationship, but he told me he loved me, and I was certain I was falling for him too… but now? I didn't want to let it all go, but he'd been with Cassie. And broken my fucking heart for it.

Sam… was different. From what I could tell he'd been deeply in love with Jessica, and sometimes I could hear him calling out for her in his sleep. I think he didn't think he could ever find someone else like her, and I knew it wasn't me. I was a mess, and I didn't want to ruin what I had with Dean because of some silly infatuation with his younger brother.

_It's not a 'silly' infatuation though, is it? You can't lie to me, Valkyrie. _

Was that a warning? I took a deep breath and grabbed the duffel, pulling out my toiletries bag from it and zipping it open, then I stood up, leaving my musings with the towel pooled on the floor.

**T**

I emerged from the bathroom in my newly washed tunic and trousers, Sam had taken off his black suit jacket and loosened his tie, he'd unbuttoned a few of the buttons on his shirt too. Something within me faltered; Sam wasn't going to make this easy at all. "So Sarah just handed the, uh, provenances over to you?" Dean asked his brother while I joined him on the couch, his arm loped around me and pulled me closer to him, an image of him and Cassie getting together flashed in my mind and I silently beat it back with a big stick – more of bludgeoned it frantically, really.

"Yeah, we went back to her place and I got a copy of the papers." Sam waved a file as he shrugged simply, causing Dean to frown whilst I kept a straight face.

"And?" The older Winchester nodded expectantly.

I found myself silently bracing for Sam's answer, whilst the younger Winchester glanced at me and gave another shrug, "And nothing. That's it, I left."

Dean cleared his throat pointedly, "You didn't her or do any..." He paused, smirking as he tried to be delicate, "Special favours or anything like that?"

Sam rolled his eyes, "Dean, would you mind getting your mind out of the gutter please?"

The older Winchester laughed at his brother's shyness, missing the look Sam and I shared for a brief, fleeting moment. "You know when this whole thing's done, we could stick around for a little bit." Dean suggested once he'd calmed down.

His younger brother looked confused, "Why?"

"So you can take her out again. It's obvious you're into her, Sammy." Dean grinned teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sam muttered, focusing on the open file before him, Dean reached over and turned up the song on the radio.

"_I go crazy, crazy, baby I go crazy. You turn it on..." _I sang along with chorus and grinned at Dean, he rolled his eyes at me.

"_Aerosmith_. Really?" He tried to look unamused but a smirk slowly grew on his face.

I hit his arm lightly, "Says the guy who has this song on tape in his car. Come on Dean, you love this song."

"No, _you _love this song, that's why you bought it at that record store last week." Dean accused.

I shrugged and stood up from the sofa, grabbing the motel TV remote and using it as a microphone as the chorus came up again,_ "Yeah you drive me – crazy, crazy, crazy for you baby. What can I – _Dean!" I shrieked as he suddenly had me over his shoulder, the controller forgotten on the floor as he spun me around. "Dean put me down!" I giggled as the song continued playing in the background.

"Guys, I think I've got something here." Sam interjected in a deadpan tone, I grinned and bit my lip as Dean turned to face his brother, whilst I wriggled out of Dean's hold.

Dean snickered as he stepped over me to get to Sam, I reached out and grabbed his ankle pulling him to the floor, "Steph!" He exclaimed as I smirked at him and jumped up, leaving him alone on the floor as I joined Sam at the table.

Sam handed me the open file and I scanned through it, "Portrait of Isaiah Merchant's family, painted in 1910." I read aloud, frowning as I recognised the painting in the book, "Isn't this the ugly painting we were laughing at?" Sam nodded in confirmation as I looked up, "What's it got to to with the case?"

Sam slid John Winchester's journal over to me, "Now compare the names of the owners in this." He said.

My eyes narrowed as they fell on the page and tried to decipher the hastily scrawled notes on the page, whilst Dean came up behind me, "First purchased in 1912, Peter Simms… Peter Simms murdered in 1912. Same thing in 1945," I looked up at Sam, "And the same thing in 1970." I finished, closing the book and tossing it back down onto the table, "Then what happened?"

Sam sat back in his chair, "Then stored, until it was donated to a charity auction last month. Where the Telascas bought it."

I nodded slowly; the Telascas, who were found slashed in their apartment. "So what, the painting is haunted?" I suggested.

"Or cursed." Sam nodded.

"Either way, it's toast." Dean grinned, happy that this was looking to be an easy hunt.

"So what, we go to the auction house tomorrow and somehow destroy the painting without being caught?" Sam asked.

"Or, we could just break in tonight and take it." The older Winchester shrugged.

I nodded, comfortable with doing either option, whilst Sam's brow furrowed, "Dean, sure we can disarm the security precautions, but there's no way we're gonna get over that fence."

"Well, that _is _the advantage of having a sorcerer around." Dean smirked, his hand wrapping around my waist.

**T**

The night life in the town was thriving, the air surrounding local clubs and bars was practically cracking with the anticipation of a promising, alcohol fuelled night. Yet nothing but silence filled the darkness surrounding the street near the auction house. The three of us parked a few blocks away from the target and walked towards through the back alleys towards the rear of the auction house to avoid rousing suspicion – though we needn't have bothered, everyone seemed to be staying at home or out filling the local nightspots.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Sam asked in a hushed tone as we rounded a corner and headed towards the dark, steely silhouette of the barbed barrier that surrounded the auction house.

"We get to the fence, Steph gets us all over, and then you disarm the alarm." Dean answered.

I nodded, "Simplicity in itself."

We reached the fence and I slipped my fingers through the tough wire mesh as the three of us looked up at how tall the spiked wall actually was. "That's what, eight meters at least?" Sam murmured.

"Can we make that Steph?" Dean glanced at me, his hand going to mine on the fence and grasping it gently in the dark.

I tried to be reassuring, "Of course we can. Who's first?"

The boys glanced at eachother, Dean's silhouette shrugged and held out his hand; one flat and the other balled into a fist. Sam sighed and mirrored the gesture, "On three," Dean said in a determined tone, "One, two..." He trailed off as they both played a what seemed to be a very intense round of _rock, paper, scissors_. "Dammit!" Dean growled as he came up with scissors, whilst Sam had rock.

"Looks like you're going first, Dean." I could hear the smirk in Sam's voice.

"No man, best of three." Dean argued.

I raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong Dean, you scared of going first?" I teased.

The older Winchester sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Alright, fine." He relented, glancing up at fence.

I smiled, holding out my hands and feeling the air beneath my palms, focusing on how the spaces connected and gauging how much pressure I should push in order to get Dean clear over the fence. "Trust me."

Without waiting for his response I pushed, and Dean shot up and I frowned as I tried to follow his figure in the dark, he cleared the fence and I raised my hands and manipulated the air currents to slow his descent. I caught his worried expression in the dark and smirked, Dean Winchester faced the super creepy, super powerful Shtriga last week without blinking, but against a basic fence vault he was scared. As soon as Dean's feet touched the ground safely he exhaled and nodded, "Ok, you're up Sammy." He grinned at us through the wire mesh, his earlier concern seemingly vanished.

**T**

We had Sam, wearing cheap disposable gloves, disable the security alarm whilst Dean and I looked out for anyone in case we were seen. "Ok, that should do it. Go ahead." Sam finally broke the silence, putting his tools back in his pocket.

"Awesome." Dean smirked in the warm glow of the flame in my hand and bent down to carefully pick the door lock.

"You know, you'd think that they'd at least have someone out here guarding the priceless art and relics inside." I pointed out, my tone low and amused.

"Yeah well," Dean shot me a smirk over his shoulder, "Just be thankful they haven't, so we can finish the job and go home."

The lock finally clicked and Dean opened the door, "Finally," Sam sighed mockingly, waving his hand in front of his brother's face, "Hey, can you _see _ok, Dean? 'Cause you were going a little slow with the door there." He grinned.

Dean batted his younger brother's hand away, "Shut up."

I rolled my eyes, "Come on, I wanna get to bed before the sun comes up guys." I stepped past them and held the flame in one hand before clicking my fingers in the other, getting more light in the room so I could see better. "Let's split up," I suggested to the boys as they followed me inside, "You take downstairs and I'll have a look upstairs, see if I can find it tucked away or something."

**T**

It was nice to have my own few minutes away from the Winchesters for the first time in what seemed like forever, it meant I didn't have to entertain their small talk or supply suggestions on where to get breakfast tomorrow, or who would run the credit card scam tomorrow. I walked through the aisles of the upstairs storage slowly, making sure I didn't miss anything as I let my mind wander.

I knew one thing I had to do; I had to clear everything up with Dean. At the moment, we were walking on eggshells around eachother, and despite the fact that I wanted to get mad at him – vent all my frustrations over Sam and Darquesse to him for Cassie, I knew I couldn't. It just wasn't fair. I came to the end of the aisle and stopped at a beautifully carved, ornate wooden mirror. I stared into space as I mulled things over, the worst scenario would be confessing to Dean about everything I'd done with Sam, and most likely ending up on the side of the road, or I could just push it all down; all my recent feelings for the younger Winchester and my hurt about Cassie and just ignore it all. Even Darquesse.

I leant against the mirror, careful not to touch the glass and leave marks on it. I could do that, couldn't I? Ignoring it all and pretending everything was ok until I'd convinced myself it was the clear and easier option, rather than face Dean in a stubborn and explosively inevitable argument. I knew it was selfish, sure, to just put my choices before Deans, but it was better for everyone in the long run, right?

_Don't count on it, Val. _

I pushed myself off of the mirror and faced it, taking deep breaths. Ignore her, just ignore her and she'll go away. I left my problems with that mirror and did one last check before going back downstairs to look for the boys. I found them in one of the aisles that Sam and I were standing in yesterday, Sam was holding the painting steady whilst Dean cut the painting from its frame with his switch-blade, his torch held between his teeth as he carefully prised the painting off without tearing it. "Alright," Sam said in a low voice, "Now lets just get back to the car, drive off and get rid of the painting." He slid the frame back onto one of the shelves and looked up as I approached.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." I grinned, whilst Dean rolled up the painting.

"Right?" Dean's smile matched my own, "Now let's get outta here."

We slipped out quietly, jogging to the fence and only pausing so I could get the boys over quickly and safely, once we were clear we rushed to the car and sped off into the night, finding the nearest side road on the free way and pulling up out of sight. Once we were certain we were alone, the three of us stood quietly whilst Dean threw the painting onto the dirt, I held a flame cupped in both hands to keep me warm, whilst Dean fiddled with his lighter. "You know, if you ask me? I think we're doing the art world a favour." I shrugged as Dean crouched down and lit up and down one of the sides of the art.

Sam yawned as the painting burned curled into itself on the dirt, "Right, I'm officially exhausted. Let's just get back and get some sleep before we hit the road again tomorrow."

Dean frowned up at him, "You don't wanna spend one more day here, you know, with Sarah?"

The younger Winchester shook his head, "No. It's not, ah, it's not gonna go anywhere with her."

"How do you know? I mean, maybe you should just give her a chance, you know?" I shrugged again.

Sam bored his eyes into mine, before he shook his head slowly, saying nothing.

**T**

The next morning I was sat cross-legged on the sofa with my morning coffee, browsing for cute dresses to surprise Dean with in the future, whilst Sam was busying himself with packing up his duffel bag waiting for Dean to get out the shower.

_What future? The one where you pretend like Dean is the perfect boyfriend? _

I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat, "Something wrong?" Sam asked, noticing my sudden discomfort.

I closed the laptop and sighed, putting it on the coffee table and finishing my coffee, "Nah I'm good."

"You sure, 'cause Dean takes forever in the shower, if you feel like talking we can-"

"I said I was good Sam," I smiled, rolling my eyes teasingly, "Come on, come sit and keep me company." I patted the seat next to me.

Sam grinned, "Hang on, I wanna finish packing these last few things."

I made a frustrated noise and turned around to face him, lounging over the back of the chair, "Come on Sam, why are you packing anyway? I thought we were staying here for another day."

The younger Winchester shook his head, "Well, we're not, Steph. I've found about three more cases two states over that we can do, plus Dean's got half a dozen voicemails on his phone with some leads on possible hunts."

Sam turned his back to me and continued packing his bag, I rolled my eyes and stood up from the couch, making my way over to him silently. I waited until I was right behind him before I tapped him delicately on the shoulder, he turned around and I enveloped him in a tight hug, holding onto him until he returned it. "I know you think that you and Sarah won't work, but you need to at least give it a chance." I murmured.

Sam's shaggy fringe brushed against my cheek as he shook his head, "There's no point," He confessed, "With our Dad M.I.A and everything that's been going on lately, Sarah's better off just staying away from me."

The two of us parted and I cocked an eyebrow as I gazed up at him, "Geez, could you be a little more broody for me? I didn't quite get my fix of self-tormented angst last night." I rolled my eyes and punched Sam on his shoulder, knowing it wouldn't hurt him.

The younger Winchester gave me the tiniest of grins and shoved me away from him, "Shut up." He muttered, whilst the bathroom door finally clicked open.

Dean emerged with a cloud of steam from where he'd probably used the last of the hot water, dressed in his usual jeans, combat boots and simple shirt with his Dad's leather jacket completing the ensemble. I found myself giving a little smirk as I eyed how undeniably attractive his hair was still drying from his shower, all unkempt and brushed aside carelessly. "We've got a problem, I can't find my wallet." Dean exclaimed quickly, his eyes brimming with concern.

Sam tilted his head whilst I shook my head, trust Dean to forget something as important as his wallet somewhere. "And how is that my problem?" Sam asked, his tone reflecting that special contemptuous mockery that all siblings reserved for eachother.

The older Winchester clicked his tongue impatiently, "Because I think I dropped it in the warehouse last night."

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair, "Dean!"

He held up his hands as he shrugged uselessly as I shot him an irritated look, whilst his younger brother gave him more of a horrified one, "Tell me you're joking." Sam asked, his tone somewhere between a frustrated sigh and tired whine.

Dean rolled his eyes, "No, I'm joking with you," His tone dripped with sarcasm as gave his younger brother a light shove, "It's got my prints, my ID – well, my fake IDs anyway. We've gotta get it before someone else finds it."

"Yep," I nodded, "I think I hate you."

**T**

The auction house was the last place Dean remembered having his wallet, so he insisted that it

would be somewhere in there. Of course, with our luck, there was another auction showing being held, luckily we slipped in quickly and kept to ourselves, searching around on the ground floor for where Dean could have dropped his wallet.

After several minutes Sam's impatience became vocal, "Honestly, how do you lose your wallet, Dean?" He hissed to his older brother as we finished another lap of the building.

"Hey guys!" A cheerful voice sounded behind us.

"Oh, fucking perfect." I muttered as I recognised the voice instantly, Dean shot me a warning look as we turned to face Sarah Blake.

"Sarah," Dean and shared a smirk at the bright smile Sam gave the girl, "Hey, how's it going?"

She frowned at the three of us, glancing around at the patrons, "What are you doing here?" She asked.

I shared a false smile with Sam as I widened my eyes slightly to signal to him to lie, "Ahh," Sam looked back at Sarah as he fumbled for an adequate answer, "We… we are, er, leaving town and, you know, we came to say goodbye."

Dean cleared his throat and brought his wallet out from his jacket pocket, "Oh Sam, I have that twenty dollars I owe you," He glanced at me with a nonchalant expression on his face, whilst I stared at him in disbelief, "I always forget, you know?" He smiled back at Sarah, whilst his brother narrowed his eyes at the cash in his hand, dumbfounded, "Here you go man, take it." Dean's knowing smile grew wider.

The younger Winchester's jaw clenched as he snatched the bill from Dean's hand, giving him a tight smile in return, Sarah's beaming smile stayed, but her eyebrows raised a little at the exchange, "Don't pay much attention to them, we were fighting this morning over the, ah, the shower," I lied easily to Sarah, "And Sam's just upset because Dean used all his conditioner," I gave Sam a cheeky look and leaned closer to Sarah, "He's really particular about his hair care." I whispered loudly.

Sarah's beam turned into an amused grin and she nodded, "Ok, I, er, I understand," She turned to Sam and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Your hair looks fine Sam." She said, trying to keep her voice serious.

Sam let out a frustrated breath and glared at me, "Thanks for that."

I laughed and ruffled his shaggy tresses, "Just trying to preserve your ego, Sammy buddy."

Dean chuckled and looped his arm around my waist, "Ok, well we'll leave you two crazy kids alone. We've, ah, gotta go do that thing we were gonna do..." He trailed off and gave me a meaningful look and I smirked and nodded, looking back at Sam and Sarah.

"Oh yeah, we're gonna go fix the, um..." I raised my hands and made gestures as I tried to think of a plausible and polite excuse.

Dean snapped his fingers, "The clock! Yeah, the clock in our room stopped working, so… we're gonna go fix it." He nodded unconvincingly, then grabbed my arm and led me away, "Do you think they bought it?"

"Well," I stole a glance back and caught Sam and Sarah's bewildered expressions, "No, nope, not even a little." I shook my head quickly whilst Dean laughed as we reached the door.

**T**

Dean rolled off and settled next to me in the motel bed as I panted a little, getting my breath back, "You should do that thing more often." I smiled as he gave me a wry smirk and started planting soft kisses on my neck.

"Oh yeah?" He said as he moved down my neck.

I laughed lightly as I ran my hand through the older Winchesters' mussed up hair and gripped it lightly, moving his head up so I could kiss him ardently. The motel door suddenly opened and we broke away, Dean huffed in frustration as he looked at his younger brother, I stared at his embarrassed expression as he hesitated on what to do, thankful the sheets were covering us this time. "Dude, we talked about this, fuckin' knock next time, ok?" Dean snapped, but it was half-hearted.

"Sorry," Sam apologized in an uncharacteristically small voice, "But it's important – its about the painting."

I tilted my head, "The one we burned?"

The younger Winchester nodded, "Yeah, except it's in perfect condition. I saw it when I was with Sarah."

I rubbed at my left cheek tiredly, "Great. That's just great."

"Ok, ok, just give me and Steph like five minutes and we'll meet you by the car." Dean sighed.

**T**

Dean and I emerged from the hotel, our hands intertwined and laughing happily together in the sunlight, "'He's particular about his hair care'?" He quoted my mockery of Sam earlier and shook his head, "Where'd that even come f rom?"

"Don't tell me you haven't seen Sam look in the mirror to readjust his hair," I scoffed, "You know I have a feeling he stole my hairbrush?"

The older Winchester laughed and shook his head as we approached Sam, "Ah always one for hair care, my little brother."

"Who'd have guessed?" I grinned as we neared his brother.

Sam frowned, "Guessed what?" He asked.

I smiled up at him, "Oh, nothing."

The younger Winchester rolled his brown eyes, "Anyway, about the painting – I don't get it, I mean we burned the damn thing and suddenly it's in pristine condition?"

Dean rolled his eyes at his younger brother as he unlocked his beloved car and went to the drivers side, "Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious," He drawled, "What we need to do is just figure out another way to get rid of it."

He got into the car and we all followed his lead, "And do we have any ideas on how we just might do that?" I asked as I strapped myself in.

"Alright well, um, in almost all of the lore about haunted paintings it's always the painting's subject that haunts them." Sam suggested as Dean started the engine.

"Awesome. So we just need to figure out everything there is to know about that creepy-ass family and that creepy-ass painting."

Sam nodded in agreement, "Look's like we're gonna have to start doing-"

I threw my head back against the headrest and groaned, "Please don't say it."

"-Research." The younger Winchester finished and I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

"Sam!" I pretended to whine, "I told you not say it!"

Dean laughed as he began to drive out of the motel car park, "Right, what were their names again?"

**T**

We couldn't find the nearest library so the three of us found us in a local second hand bookshop, where it was empty apart from us and the proprietor, an ageing man who had let himself go a little and was sporting a small rounded belly, hidden under a gaudy sweater-vest and slacks. "You said the Isaiah Merchant family, right?" The man asked as he approached us with a blue plastic tray with various newspaper clippings in it, I peered in and noted how old some of them were given their faded colour and ink.

Sam nodded whilst Dean flipped through an old book filled with information and pictures on every gun imaginable, I spotted something familiar and put my hand down on the page before Dean could go pass it. I opened the page properly and smiled sadly at the faded picture of an old 38. Smith and Wesson revolver, recognising it instantly. "I didn't think you'd be into guns when you have, uh-" Dean snapped his fingers like I did when I wanted to summon a flame.

I scoffed and snapped the book shut as memories of Skulduggery flooded my mind, "It would be lazy to rely on magic all the time, wouldn't it?" I muttered before brushing past him and joining Sam and the shop manager.

"So, the whole Merchant family was killed?" Sam asked the proprietor.

The older man nodded, "It seems this Isaiah slits his kids throats, then his wife, then himself. Now he was a barber by trade, used a straight razor to do it."

"Do you have any information on why he did it?" I asked.

"Well let's see here," The man paused as he studied the old newspaper clipping, "'People who knew him describe Isaiah as having a strn and harsh temperament… Controlled his family with an iron fist… Had a wife, uh, two sons and an adopted daughter… There were whispers that the wife was gonna take the kids and leave'," He glanced up at Sam and I as Dean finally came and joined us, "Which of course in that day and age was, well, you know. Um, so 'instead old man Isaiah, well he gave them all a shave." He grinned childishly and drew an imaginary line across his throat whilst inhaling sharply before he laughed good naturedly. Dean joined in with the old man until Sam shot him one of his looks - which were becoming a regular expression on the younger Winchester's face, Dean's laughing cut off abruptly and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Does it say what happened to the bodies?" The older Winchester asked.

The shop manager shrugged, "Just that they were all cremated."

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the family?" I pressed politely.

"Yeah, actually the family had a portrait painted, it's right here somewhere..." He began rummaging through the clippings and old articles until he found what he wanted, "Here it is." He held up the piece of paper that had a copy of the painting, and I recognised it as the one we burned.

"Uh-huh, could we get a copy of this please?" Sam asked.

The proprietor shrugged again, "Sure."

**T**

I grabbed the milk, the sugar and a spoon and took them over to where the boys were sat at the table in our motel room, three cups of hot coffees beside them as Sam stared thoughtfully at the copy of the portrait the shop manager had given us. "I'm telling you man, I'm sure of it. The painting at the auction house, the Dad is looking down. And the painting here? The Dad's looking out," He glanced up at us seriously, "The painting has changed, guys."

Dean smiled at me as he took the milk and poured a little into his coffee, "So you think that Daddy dearest is trapped in the painting and is handling out Columbian neckties like he did with his family?"

Sam shrugged, "Well yeah, it seems like it. But if his bones were already dusted then how are we gonna stop him?"

"Maybe if Isaiah's position _has _changed then maybe some other things in the painting have changed as well." I suggested, "It might give us some clues as to what's going on."

The younger Winchester smirked, "What, like a _Da Vinci Code _deal?"

I smiled; my Mum had began reading that book, but had given up and was trying to push Dad into reading it with her, but he'd argued that his co-workers didn't talk about books, and in fact they talked about 'manly macho stuff' like what fabric and design the tie they were wearing that day was.

Dean, however, gave his brother a blank look, "I don't, ah… I'm still waiting for the movie on that one," I laughed and Sam raised an eyebrow and sighed, "Anyway, we've gotta get back into that auction house and see that painting," He took another drink from his coffee, "Which is great for you, 'cause you get some more time to crush on your girlfriend." He shot his brother a suggestive look and I smiled at their antics.

Sam sighed again, more dramatically this time, "Dude, enough already."

Dean held up his hands defensively, "What?"

"'What'?" The younger Winchester repeated, "Ever since we got here, you've been trying to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, alright?" He snapped, his eyes fierce.

"Well you like her, don't you?" Dean pressed, his tone still teasing.

"Dean." I cautioned softly, giving him a look.

Sam ignored us both completely, instead he clenched his jaw and looked down, concentrating on his coffee as his cheeks turned unmistakeably pink. A clear answer to Dean's previous question, albeit a silent one.

"Alright, well you like her, and she clearly likes you. _And _you're both consenting adults..." Dean trailed off, keeping his tone light and suggestive.

Sam's gaze flickered to me and I looked away, only looking back once he let out a frustrated noise, "What's the point, Dean?" His tone was raised, almost at shouting volume, "We'll just leave. We _always _leave."

"Well I'm not talking about marriage here, Sam." Dean frowned.

The younger Winchester huffed, drumming his fingers on the table agitatedly, "You know what? I don't get it. Why do you even care if I hook up?"

I shrugged off my jacket and summoned a flame in my palm, playing with before turning my attention to the steam rising from my coffee cup, trying to see if I could manipulate it from gas back to water again whilst the boys continued to argue, "Because then maybe you wouldn't be so cranky all the time."

Sam stared at Dean for a long moment before he shook his head, "You're so lucky you have Steph. You don't know what it's like to be with someone and think about how what you have is only temporary-"

"Are you forgetting about Cassie?" Dean interjected.

The room fell silent and I froze, my hand half open facing the steam.

"Well," I said quietly, "I think that Sarah could be good for you, Sam. But this isn't because of the job is it?" I leaned over and rested my hand gently on his arm, "This is about Jessica, right?" Sam's eyes flickered to me, "I'm sorry that I never got to see that side of you with her, and I'm sorry that you and Dean never got to see the side of me before I got thrown here. But I've lost people, just like you, and I know what that's like," I paused as several names and faces popped into my mind, "I don't think there's no real way to really deal with… loss… but I would think that they would want you to be happy."

Sam stared at me, his eyes shining brightly before he nodded slowly.

"Yeah," Sam murmured, "I know she would, and you're right; part of this _is _about Jessica. But not the main part."

"So what's the main part about then, Sammy?" Dean asked curiously, but Sam shook his head, refusing to answer, "Fine," Dean sighed in defeat, "We've still gotta see that painting, which means you still gotta call Sarah, so..." He trailed off and slid Sam his phone.

The younger Winchester heaved a sigh and picked up the phone, he held it to his ear as the dial tone sounded faintly, "Do you two mind?" Sam frowned at us.

I got up and walked over to the kitchenette, jumping up on the counter and crossing my legs as Dean went and lay on the sofa with his arms crossed behind his head and his eyes closed.

"Sarah, hey," Sam cleared his throat awkwardly and I immediately paid attention to anything other than Sam, which happened to be the back label of the instant coffee mix, "It's Sam… Hey – hi… No I'm good, yeah, umm," Sam paused and ran his hand through his hair nervously, "What about you – how are you doing?"

Across the room, Dean had opened on eye and watched his younger brother in amusement as he stumbled for conversation, "Yeah good, good, ah, really good." Sam was nodding hurriedly as he repeated himself.

The older Winchester snickered, "Smooth."

"So, ah, so listen. Me, Dean and Steph were, uh, thinking that maybe we'd like to come back in and look at the painting again, I..." He paused as he spied Dean shaking his head and smiling to himself, "I think maybe we're interested in buying it," He said quickly, then took a breath to compose himself as Sarah spoke, "What?!" Sam's mouth dropped open.

I put the coffee jar down and hopped off the counter as Sam stood up from his chair, "What's she saying?" I whispered my question whilst Dean sighed and got up from the sofa.

"Well who'd you sell it to?" Sam asked, his tone stressed.

"Sam, what's going on?" Dean asked, holding up his hands curiously.

The younger Winchester rolled his eyes and turned away from us,"Sarah I need an address right now." He said urgently.

**T**

Dean's car hurled around a corner as we turned onto an uptown street, with expensive looking terraced houses standing imperiously before perfectly manicured lawns. "Ok this is the street." Sam said, his hand out as he counted the houses, "It's this one just coming up."

Dean nodded and halted the car, the sudden speed drop making everyone lurch forwards in their seats. Sarah was standing by her expensive looking car waiting for us as we hurried towards the new owner of the painting's house. "Sam what's happening?" Sarah asked as Dean and I ran past her.

"I told you, you shouldn't have come." Sam answered simply, trying to distance himself from her.

We reached the door and Dean knocked on it loudly, "Hello, anyone home?" We waited three seconds before Dean tried again.

"You said Evelyn might be in danger, what sort of danger?" Sarah pressed as she and Sam joined Dean and I at the door.

No one granted the girl an answer and Dean sighed, "I can't knock this sucker down, I've gotta pick it."

"There's no time, I can do it." I glanced at Sarah and rolled my eyes, finding Evelyn's life to be more important than protecting her from the truth. I snapped my palm out and the air rippled before the door snapped open violently, the bangs echoing through the house as Dean and I stepped into the hallway quickly.

"What the – Sam what was that?" We left a shocked Miss Blake in the doorway and ran through to the first door, cursing when we realised it was just a walk-in closet for coats and shoes.

"Damn rich people." I growled as we all rushed to get back into the hallway.

"What are you guys, burglars? And how the hell did Stephanie open the door like that?! Is she some kind of superhero?!" Sarah continued, her voice raising towards hysteria.

Despite the situation, I let out a laugh, "I wish it was that simple."

"Look, you really should wait in the car, Sarah. It's for your own good." Sam tried dismissing her again as we peered into an empty kitchen.

"The hell I will," Sarah argued stubbornly, "Evelyn's a friend."

"Evelyn?" I called as I tried a light switch.

Dean opened a door and stepped through, "Evelyn?" He tried as we all followed behind him. We'd found the living room, the black band on my finger immediately became cold as I stepped into the room, my eyes reeling and finding the painting that had been hung over the fireplace instantly. A figure was sat in the chair directly opposite it, my mouth went dry as I saw her shoulders weren't moving, meaning she wasn't breathing.

"Shit." I breathed, glancing at the boys and shaking my head at them.

Sarah, however, didn't get the message, she rushed over to the woman's corpse unwittingly. "Evelyn? It's Sarah, Sarah Blake, are you alright?" She asked carefully, reaching out and touching her shoulder.

Sam reached towards her quickly, "Sarah! Sarah don't!"

But it was too late, Sarah shook Evelyn's shoulder slightly and the corpse's head lolled back, her eyes wide and unblinking, finding Sarah's as her slashed throat opened wider. The girl jumped back and screamed in horror, "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

"Sam," The younger Winchester looked at me as Sarah continued to scream, "Get her out of here."

Sam nodded and wrapped his arm around Sarah comfortingly and herded her out the room.

I cleared my throat, "The painting's moved again." I said quietly, as if I was scared Isaiah could hear me.

"I know." Dean nodded, "Come on, let's get out of here. No one can know we were here." He held his hand out to me.

**T**

I finished my _Jura _and exhaled sharply as it burned it's way down my throat, the bar was quiet with the late hour and it was just the three of us sat in the corner quietly. Dean raised his own whiskey at me and offered me a small smile.

"So we failed." I sighed, reaching for the vodka and coke I'd also gotten.

"Yeah." Sam nodded, seemingly the most detached out of all of us.

"Do you think Sarah will do what we told her to do?" I wondered, playing with the coasters on the table.

Dean shrugged, "Guess we'll just have to wait and find out."

We sat in a tense silence for the next few minutes until the doors in the bar flung open and Sarah stormed in, once she spotted us she hesitated before approaching our table, where Sam stood up to greet her instantly. "Hey. Are you alright?"

Sarah huffed at Sam's question in annoyance, "No, actually, I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn's, alone -" Her eyes flashed to me, "- Somehow broke the front door down and found her like that."

I looked the girl right in the eyes and shrugged carelessly, whilst Dean paid attention to his drink and Sam nodded gratefully, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," She shook her head angrily and held up her thumb and forefinger mere millimetres apart, "I'm _this _close to calling them back if you three don't tell me what the hell's going on. Who's killing these people? And how did she do that with the door earlier!"

"Would you believe I fell into a vat of experimental chemicals?" I drawled, standing up and rolling my eyes at her, brushing past her as I headed to the bathroom.

**T**

_Dean's P.O.V_

I smirked and shook my head as the bathroom door slammed shut, "Pay no attention to Steph, she's just angry we couldn't save Evelyn tonight."

"Does she need me to go talk to her or something?" Sarah asked, looking back at the bathroom.

"No." My voice echoed along with my brother's and we shared a faint smile.

"She, ah, she could rip your head off. Steph just needs a few minutes to herself from time to time." I smiled as I excused my girlfriend to Sarah.

Miss Blake nodded slowly, and then she sat down, "Can you just explain to me about earlier. Anything."

I drummed my fingers against the table, staying quiet so Sam could explain whatever to Sarah, knowing it would be better for her coming from my brother. "What do you want to know?" Sam asked carefully as he pulled up a chair.

"Well for starters, I'd like to know who's killing these people." Sarah said coldly.

My brother glanced at me and I raised my eyebrows, I knew what he was asking; whether we should reveal the supernatural world to the girl or not. I didn't offer my brother any indication, giving him complete control over the situation.

"What." Sam finally answered Sarah.

The girl frowned, "What?" She repeated, confused.

"It's not 'who'. It's _what_ is killing these people." He corrected in a soft voice.

Sarah stared at my brother as if he was insane, I took a swig of my beer and winced at the look of how this was gonna go down.

Sam glanced at me and sighed, "Sarah, you saw that painting had moved."

The girl shook her head sharply, "No, I was… I was seeing things. It's impossible." She denied.

"It's also impossible how Steph opened the door like she did earlier," My brother nodded seriously at her, trying to keep her calm, "Look Sarah, I know this sounds crazy… but we think that the painting is haunted."

Sarah sniggered at his statement, but tears of disbelief welled up in her eyes, "You're joking." Her face whipped around to me to see if I was giving away some trick, but I shook my head slowly, "You're not joking," She sighed and looked away, "God, the guys I go out with..."

"Sarah, think about it," Sam leaned closer to her, "Evelyn, the Telesca's – they both had the painting. And there have been others before that. Wherever this thing goes people die, and me, Steph and my brother? We're just trying to stop it. And that's the truth." I smirked when I recognised the earnest, puppy dog look he was giving her, the look that had gotten Sam out of trouble countless times before. It never failed.

I watched as Miss Blake slowly faltered under Sam's gaze, she took a deep breath before she finally nodded, "Then I guess you'd better show me. I'm coming with you."

"No you're not," Steph announced her return as she grabbed her drink from the table and drank some of it, "You're going to get into your car and drive home, and after we finish this it's gonna be like all this never happened. It's just gonna be a story you're gonna tell your kids someday."

Sarah eyed Stephanie guardedly, and I found myself wondering what she'd do if she saw what else the Irish girl could do. After all, she'd only seen what the girl could do to a _door_, let alone the thing's we'd seen her do before. Nevertheless Sarah shook her head in disagreement to Steph, "That's ridiculous, I can't pretend like tonight never happened, I'm a part of this now." She glanced at Sam to help her case, but my brother shook his head.

"Steph's right. You should leave, this stuff can get dangerous and…" Sam looked down at his lap, "And I don't want you to get hurt." He muttered.

The girl looked away for a moment and when she looked back at Sam, her cheeks were tinged pink and a small smile was on her face, "Look," She said softly, "You guys are probably crazy, but if you're right about this then that means me and my Dad sold a painting that got these people killed," Steph caught my eyes and she shook her head, I knew what she was saying to me; _don't let her do this, Dean. _Unfortunately, Sarah caught the glance too, "Look, I'm not saying I'm not scared because I am scared as hell, but I'm not going to run and hide either." She finished with a determined look at Steph.

Steph leaned down to her, a challenging look in her dark, dark eyes, "Oh really?"

Miss Blake nodded, "Really."

"Well then you're an idiot," The snap in Steph's voice made everyone at the table flinch, "This isn't fun and games, Sarah, this shit gets you killed. And frankly, we've got enough to deal with on our plates already, and I don't wanna be adding _babysitting _onto it." She said harshly.

"Knock it off, Steph," It was the first time I'd heard my brother really get angry towards her, and the scathing tone was one Sam didn't use lightly, "You wanted to try and scare her off, and it didn't work, Sarah's just trying to help."

I stared at the label on my beer bottle as an awkward silence settled around the table, I was in no way expecting Sam and Steph to cross their wires like this, seeing as the seemed to get along so well with eachtother. But here we all were, looking on as they stared eachother down, they were both very stubborn people, so having them argue seemed nightmarish, as I was beginning to learn.

Eventually Stephanie clenched her jaw and shook her head, "Fine. But if she gets herself killed in all this? It's on you, Winchester." There was no teasing playfulness in her eyes whenever she used our last names was nowhere to be found as she said it this time.

"Sarah, we'll be at Evelyn's house tomorrow to look at the painting, you can meet us there." Sam said in an unsettlingly quiet tone, his eyes not leaving Stephanie's.

**T**

_Valkyrie's P.O.V_

Sarah left quickly, silently bidding Dean a hasty goodbye as she hurried out the bar. Sam and I paid her no attention, both staring eachother down dangerously.

Eventually Dean broke the silence, "Guys come on, you shouldn't be fighting like this. We're all just tired, let's just get back to the motel and sort it out there." He said, desperately trying to diffuse the thick tension between Sam and I. Dean stood up from his chair and started tugging gently on my arm, "Come on, otherwise I swear I will leave you both here." He threatened.

With a heavy sigh, Sam stood up from his chair, using his height to tower over me before he finally broke our stare-down by storming towards the door.

**T**

The car journey back to the motel was held in stiff silence, Dean had turned the radio on and we had the first few chords of _Can't You Hear Me Knocking _by _The Rolling Stones _before Sam had shut it off. "I can't believe you spoke to Sarah like that!" Sam suddenly shouted, frustration edging his voice.

"I can't believe you let her get so involved in this!" I shouted back.

"She has a right to know, Steph."

"I'm trying to help her, Sam." I matched his tone mockingly.

The younger Winchester scoffed, "How? By treating her like a burden? Give me a break."

"If that's what it takes to save her life, then so be it." I shrugged.

Sam turned in his seat to face me, "How can you be so awful to her? She just wants to try and help."

"Because she wouldn't feel the need to try and help us if she wasn't so eager to suck your dick!" I seethed.

Dean slammed his foot on the break and everyone was thrown forward as the car screeched to a halt, "Alright that's enough, both of you!" Dean's shout was louder than everyone's, and it surrounded the car and made us fall silent. "Steph, Sarah is going to be there, _helping _us tomorrow whether you like it or not, so suck it up," Dean's gaze snapped to his brother's, "And you, you got what you wanted – Sarah is meeting us tomorrow and it's gonna be your job to make sure she doesn't come to the wrong end of a straight razor. So stop antagonizing eachother, for the love of God! Have I made myself clear?!" Dean's said, sounding as if he was scolding two children. In some sense, Sam and I both were, especially from the way we were both behaving.

The younger Winchester and I both mumbled a begrudging consensus to Dean, and he nodded, "Good, now apologise." He ordered.

There was a pause as we shared a glance with eachother in the dark, then I let out a sigh, "Sam, I'm sorry I was so horrible to Sarah. She's a nice girl, and she didn't deserve to be treated like that."

Sam nodded slowly, "And I'm sorry I was so angry at you, we're friends, and I shouldn't have disagreed with you so harshly."

Dean nodded thoughtfully at our apologies, satisfied with our responses. "Ok, awesome." He put the car into gear and resumed his casual speeding downtown to the motel, "Now I can sleep comfortably knowing you two won't try and kill eachother."

**T**

The next day we met Sarah outside Evelyn's house fairly late in the afternoon, ducking under the police tape surrounding the porch and waiting whilst Sam crouched and picked the lock on the new door the police had installed in an effort to keep people out. Dean's hand was intertwined with mine, and I had offered Sarah a small smile in an effort to try and dispel the awkwardness between us. "Err, isn't this a crime scene?" Sarah asked in a worried tone as she eyed what Sam was doing.

My smile grew a little wider as I accompanied it with a shrug, "You've already lied to the cops, we figured what's another infraction?"

Miss Blake nodded, her demeanour more at ease as she noticed my kinder attitude towards her today. The lock gave a tell-tale _click _and Sam tried the doorknob, once inside we made a beeline to the living room, Sarah and I stood back whilst the boys lifted the painting down from the wall and placed it on the coffee table we had cleared. "And you guys aren't the slightest bit worried it's..." She trailed off and shot me a doubtful glance, "Gonna kill us?"

I shrugged, "Nah, it seems to do its thing at night, plus that's why I made the boys take it off the wall – give us a fighting chance to get out the door safely." Sarah gave me a worried look, and I laughed, "Kidding, Sarah, we're going on the 'only attacks at night' theory."

"Oh," Sarah offered me a chuckle, but it sounded forced, "Right."

I rolled my eyes as Dean brought out the copy of the original painting from the bookshop and compared it with the actual painting, "Hey, check it out. The razor, it's closed in this one, but it's open in that one." He pointed to where the razor was in each painting, and we all nodded in agreement at his observation.

"So what does that mean exactly?" Miss Blake asked.

"Well, if the spirit's changing aspects of the painting, it means it's doing so for a reason." Dean explained.

I frowned as I noticed something else, "And what about this, the painting _in_ the painting." I pointed to the small golden frame oiled onto the canvas behind Isaiah Merchant.

"What is that, some kind of crypt?" Dean frowned as he tilted his head to get a closer look.

Sam grabbed the glass ashtray we had put on the floor and used it as a makeshift magnifying glass, "Either that or it's a mausoleum. What's that writing say on it?"

"It says Merchant." Sarah offered, and we all nodded as it made some sort of sense. A clue inside a clue, really.

"We've gotta find this crypt and check it out." Sam said as he gripped the frame of the painting and lifted it from the table, putting it back on the wall carefully.

Dean clicked his tongue, "Next stop graveyard I guess."

**T**

The four of us walked through the rows of gravestones, careful not to miss any in case we found any belonging to the name 'Merchant'. As we finished another row Dean huffed in annoyance, "This is the third boneyard we've checked. I think this ghost is jerking us around."

"Awesome." I rolled my eyes.

A little way behind us Sam and Sarah walked together, both lost deep in their conversation, "So this is what you three do for a living?"

"Not exactly. We don't get paid." Sam admitted.

Sarah scoffed and put her hands into her jacket pockets, "Well, _Mazel Tov_."

"Hey, over there." Dean pointed up the hill after the graveyard. There, silhouetted against the sky, stood a small, square building, similar to the one from the painting.

I sighed, "Ugh, more walking? That's not even _in _the damn cemetery." I complained.

**T**

The doors to the small crypt broke on impact of hitting the wall from the sudden air force I'd manipulated, revealing a mass of cobwebs and clouds of century-old dust. Sam and Sarah entered first, whilst Dean and I savoured the fresh air outisde for a few more moments. "Hey Steph, can you give us a light?" Sam's voice echoed around the room to my ears.

I entered the room and blinked a few times, adjusting to the sudden gloom before I clicked my fingers and summoned a flame, Sarah gasped, "Oh my God? How are you doing that?"

I gave her a shrug, "Magic. You didn't think all I did was blast open door, did you?" I turned the light on the back wall, revealing four dust covered urns sat equally spaced apart in front of four square glass fronted boxes, there was a fifth box, but no urn sat before it like the others.

Sarah and I peered into one of the cases curiously, my eyes widened as I saw a child's doll sat in the case, it's body sat stiff with it's face positioned so it looked out back at you. Beside me, Sarah shuddered, "Ok, that right there? Is one of the _creepiest _thing I've ever seen."

Sam came over and I stood back and returned to where Dean was, "It was a sort of tradition at the time," The younger Winchester explained, "Whenever a child died sometimes they'd preserve the kid's favourite toy in a glass case, put it next to the headstone, or in this case, inside the family crypt." A silence settled as Sam's explanation hang in the air, the sudden wind blowing in the open entrance didn't help.

_Ugh, I _hate _clichés, don't you? _

"Hey, has anyone noticed anything strange here?" Dean spoke up.

"Er, where do I start?" Sarah smirked.

"No, that's not what I meant. Check out the urns." He pointed to the four of them.

Sam tilted his head, "Huh. There are only four."

"Yeah, Mum and the three kids, Daddy dearest isn't here." Dean nodded.

I frowned and glanced at the older Winchester, "So where is he?"

**T**

A fan whirred over Dean and I as we sat hunched over the only working computer in the library, searching into the county death certificates to try and find out about Isaiah's death and what happened to his body. "Tell me again why we're the ones stuck doing this when Sam and Sarah get to wait outside in the fresh air?" I moaned.

"Because I thought they could use some time alone together." Dean answered.

I glanced at him and sent him a doubtful look, arching an eyebrow as I waited for the real reason, "I, er, I lost _rock, paper, scissors _to Sam again." He admitted.

I sighed and shook my head, "You know with your track record on that game, I don't think I want you playing with my side in the balance anymore, ok?"

Dean frowned and lightly shoved me, "Glad to know you're confidence in me is still strong."

I laughed and kissed his cheek gently, "Anytime."

Dean scrolled down the names under 'Merchant' until I held up my hand, "Wait, wait, wait. Go back up." Dean scrolled up slowly until I pointed to the name we wanted, "Here we go, Isaiah Merchant..." I trailed off as we both leaned closer and read the file.

"Awesome, so he was just buried in a pine box pauper style? Sounds easy enough." I smiled after I finished reading.

The older Winchester nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it doesn't sound too bad actually."

I stood up from the dusty chair as Dean worked on turning the computer off, "We'd better head outside and tell the other two."

Dean glanced out the window and smirked, "Or not."

I followed his gaze and saw Sam and Sarah stood outside talking, they were stood close, closer than friends would care to stand anyway, and seemed happily engrossed in whatever conversation they were having.

I nudged Dean, "Hey, five dollars says they make out." I challenged.

Dean shot me a look, "You seriously wanna bet on whether my brother trades saliva with some chick?"

I screwed up my face in disgust, "Gross!" I laughed, "… Ten dollars?"

"Ten bucks? Done." Dean nodded and I rolled my eyes in amusement.

**T**

After we deemed it safe, Dean and I headed outside to join Sam and Sarah. Dean, ever the older brother, popped up annoyingly between them with a huge smirk plastered on his features, "Am I interrupting something?" He asked, obviously knowing the answer.

"No." Sam denied quickly.

"Not at all." Sarah shook her head, her answer milliseconds after the younger Winchesters'.

I raised an eyebrow as I glanced at the two of them, "Sure he wasn't." I teased, aiming it more towards Sam.

"So," Sam cleared his throat, "What did you two find?"

I shrugged, "Cliffnotes? The relatives of the family were so ashamed of Isaiah that they didn't want him interred with the rest of the family, gave him a poor man's funeral and buried him in a box."

The younger Winchester nodded, "So there are bones to burn?"

Dean smiled, "There are bones to burn." He confirmed.

"Tell me you two found out where."

**T**

We wasted little time going straight back to the cemetery as the moon crept out and joined the stars, we found the grave, marked under a false name and started digging quickly and quietly whilst Sarah acted as a lookout for anyone who happened to be in a graveyard at night. I noticed Sarah shivering in the cold and elbowed Sam slyly, he glanced at me and I motioned for him to jump out the hole and go join her. He nodded and mouthed a _Thank You _before he climbed out the grave, shrugging off his jacket and giving it to her.

"You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this." Sarah observed.

"Well, ah, this isn't exactly the first grave we've dug," Sam explained, "Still think I'm a catch?" He teased.

Sarah laughed, all the while Dean and I concentrated on shovelling the dirt, wishing we could anywhere but where we were now. The only good thing that came out of being forced to listen to Sam and Sarah flirt was the motivation it provided for digging at record speed, and soon enough Dean's shovel fell on something hard and hollow.

"Hey, I think I've got something." Dean called, interrupting the two lovebirds.

"Thank fuck." I muttered under my breath, earning I secret grin from Dean as he cracked open the coffin lid, revealing a long dead pile of bones. "Grab me the salt and gasoline, please Sarah?" I asked, throwing the shovel by Sam's feet.

I poured the salt whilst Dean doused with the gasoline, then we both climbed out the hole, making sure we were on the opposite side to Sam and Sarah. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame, preparing to throw the fireball onto the remains when Dean held out his hand, stopping me. He cleared his throat, "You've been a real pain in the ass Isaiah. And you're portrait scene choices are terrible." He nodded for me to light it up ad I rolled my eyes.

"I can't believe you just talked tough to a dead body." I murmured to him as we watched the remains burn in the dark.

**T**

Evelyn's house was our final stop of the job, and Sam was eager to get it finished. He jumped out the car as soon as Dean pulled up, "Keep the motor running." He told Dean before starting towards the house.

"Wait, I thought the painting was harmless now?" Sarah frowned from where she stood next to her car.

"Better safe than sorry," Sam shrugged, "We're gonna grab it and then burn the sucker. For real this time."

"Hey Sam, do you need one of us to go with you at all..?" I let the question hang in the air, hoping that Sarah would volunteer herself.

Dean caught my eyes and smirked, "You know, that's a great idea, Steph. Why don't you go with him?" He suggested, putting me in the spotlight.

I narrowed my eyes. I knew what he was doing; he was trying to win the bet – and playing dirty to do it. "Well I was uh, thinking that, ah..." Sam whipped round and shot me a scorching look, I glanced at Sarah and forced a smile, "Nothing." I sighed, getting out the car.

"Sarah, wait here with Dean please." Sam asked the girl as we walked past her towards the house.

I glanced back at the car to see Dean looking through his box of cassette tapes, soon enough _Make a Bet _by _Foo Fighters _was blaring out of the speakers, with Dean grinning at me. "What a dick." I muttered as we walked up the porch steps.

"What's with the music?" Sam asked as we entered the house.

I shook my head, "Just a little joke me and Dean have going."

The younger Winchester scoffed, "Figures."

We entered the living room and I hit Sam's arm lightly, noticing something, "Err, Sam?"

"Huh?"

I pointed to the painting on the wall, "The painting, the little girl's gone."

Sam frowned, "Shit. And the razor."

The front door in the hallway echoed as it slammed shut and I whirled, air brushing against my palm and my ring turning to ice. Sticking to the classic horror movie cliché of course, a beautiful ornate glass lamp on one of the coffee tables suddenly smashed to the floor, shattering before our feet as a little girl's laughter filled the air.

Sam and I looked at eachother, "Door?" I suggested hurriedly.

The younger Winchester nodded, then we bolted back to the hallway and ran to the door, Sam yanked on the handle. The door stayed fixed in it's place, and we heard desperate shoving from the other side.

"Dean! Is that you?" Sam called.

"Sammy?" Dean's muffled reply came laced with concern, "You alright? Tell me you two slammed the front door and locked it."

"Nope," I glanced around the hallway behind us, "We think it's the little girl."

The older Winchester paused, "Girl? What girl?"

"The girl in the painting, maybe it was her all along." Sam suggested.

"Wasn't the Dad looking down at her? Maybe he was trying to warn us." Dean agreed.

I sighed, "Look, let's just speculate later ok? Dean stand back, I'm gonna blast this door down." I waited a few seconds before I snapped my palms out, the air rushed towards it and I expected it to be blown off, like the other night. Instead, the door stood proudly and I glared at it, "What the fuck?" I hissed in frustration.

"What!? What's going on?" Dean shouted.

"Nothing genius, the stupid door isn't doing it's thing!" I snapped, kicking it hard.

"Maybe the ghost is only protecting it from this side, Dean try and knock it down." Sam suggested.

"Ok sure, let me just grab my battering ram." Dean drawled.

"God damnit Dean! The damn thing is coming!" Sam growled.

"Well, you two are just gonna have to hold it off until I figure something out." The older Winchester replied.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh yeah, I'll just run out and grab our stuff from the car."

"Guys I swear to God!" Sam snapped, halting our bickering, "Dean, go with Sarah and fix this. You," Sam grabbed my hand, "Come with me, we'll go find some salt and iron."

We ran into the kitchen and began rummaging in the cupboards for some salt, "What kind of house doesn't have salt in it?" Sam sighed as a few precious seconds drifted away. The girl's laughter filled the room again, but it sounded much more malicious this time.

I glanced around warily for the girl before I looked back at Sam, "Look there's no time — screw the salt, we'll just get some iron."

We ran into the living room when Sam's phone started ringing, "Uh, Dean, give us a sec, don't go anywhere," He put his phone in his pocket and looked at me, "Safest bet would be in the chair, most seats have a metal structure, could be our lucky day."

I laughed, "Yeah, cause our day's been _so_ great."

Sam managed a small grin before I turned my attention to the expensive leather chairs, wasting no time in seizing the shadows and using them to slash the backs open. The living room doors suddenly slammed shut, causing me to stand slowly and move closer to where Sam was. An awful gale suddenly started _inside the room_, and I struggled to tie my hair up as various papers flew everywhere, the air suddenly shifted and I turned in it's direction, elbowing Sam as my ring burned icily on my finger.

There she stood; a little girl, only a few years older than Alice, with one half of her hair in a perfect schoolgirl plait and the other half wild and dishevelled. She was dragging her doll along the floor behind her, her small, pale hand clutched onto the poor doll's foot. Her other hand was a completely different story, the razor was in her other hand and clearly too big for her, but she held it with such a threatening confidence that it became almost unnerving.

Sam's arm came up in behind me as we backed away, giving us more room as the girl advanced, her footsteps uneven and almost inconsistent in pace length as she came towards us. "God that's so wrong." I muttered as I sidestepped out of Sam's protective arm smoothly and walked forward to meet the ghost.

"Steph don't!" The younger Winchester shouted as I tilted my head, sizing up the opponent before me.

In one swift step forward I swept my hand out, the shadows gathered and turned sharp as they flew towards the girl, slicing her shoulder and forearm. The ghost let out an inhuman shriek as the shadows dissipated into nothing, no blood fell to the floor - because of course why would it? Her eyes raised to me, shining with an impressive rage as she glared at me. With no warning but the rush of air under my palms, I was thrown back with a spectacular force, so strong I collided with the back wall and slid painfully to the floor with a grown.

"Um, ouch?" I muttered as Sam ran to me.

"Guess I was right." Sam said as he offered me a hand.

I frowned up at him, "About what?"

"You're as dumb and reckless as Dean." He shrugged with his answer.

I laughed shortly, "Is _anyone _on the same level as Dean?"

Sam grinned, but it died as he eyed something behind me, "Maybe..."

I turned and followed his gaze, a smile of my own appearing as I saw what he'd noticed; the implements next to the fireplace. "Reckon these are iron?" I smirked as I grabbed two and handed one to the younger Winchester.

A hiss behind us made us whirl, Sam having the brains to swing at the same time, the poker went through the girl but did something else – took her with it. When Sam lowered his weapon the ghost had disappeared, and he nodded in satisfaction, "We found a weapon."

"We found a weapon." I agreed, hefting the poker in a sure two handed grip.

My phone started buzzing and I answered it quickly, "Dean." I greeted, my eyes wandering over the room as I checked for the girl.

"Steph, you guys ok?" Dean asked worriedly as I fumbled to put the device on speaker-phone.

I nodded, "Yeah we're fine, for now."

"Any idea on how we're gonna waste her?" He asked.

Sam sighed, "I don't know, she was already cremated, so there's nothing left to burn."

"Then how the hell's she still around?" Dean asked, sounding frustrated.

"There must be something else." I suggested with a shrug.

A muffled voice sounded on Dean's line, and we strained to hear it over the howling wind, "Wait, wait, we used to handle antique dolls at the auction."

I rolled my eyes, "Well whilst that is _unbelievably_ fascinating, Sarah, I don't see how it could help us out here."

Sam nudged me and sent me a warning look, "Back then they used to make the dolls in the kids' image, I mean every feature, and they would use the kid's real hair." Sarah expained.

"Human hair?" Sam echoed, then he looked at me with bright eyes, "Human remains!"

"Yeah it's gross," I nodded in agreement, "Why does that help?"

"Human remains, they're the same as bones, you can salt and burn them and get the same results." Sam explained to me quickly, glancing around the room as he did so.

"It's the creepy doll we saw in the Mausoleum!" Dean realised, his excitement evident over the phone.

"Awesome, go get it done." Sam shut the phone off and gave it back to me, where it was put safely in my jacket pocket. "Right, we'll take one side of the room, if you see the girl just swing."

"Actually I was thinking of just standing still and letting her run me through with the razor." I rolled my eyes at the younger Winchester.

He scoffed, "You think you could be serious for one second?" Sam muttered as he walked over to cover one door, whilst I took the other side where the other door was.

I turned around to give him an answer, but instead gestured in a panicked warning, "Sam look out!" I yelled as the air shifted wildly, the bookcase beside him suddenly creaked and came crashing down onto him, giving a dusty groan in process whilst Sam moaned in pain beneath it's crushing weight. I raced over to him and crouched by him, "Just hang on, Sam." I assured him and began to lift the bookcase off of him, grunting with exertion as I felt it lift off the floor.

"Steph," Sam managed with a groan, "Behind you."

I looked around, still trying to lift up the bookcase, and came face to face with the creepy ghost girl's cold, unblinking stare. The girl slashed with the razor, forcing me to abandon the bookcase with Sam and roll out the way of it, when I looked back up my blood turn to ice. "Where'd she go?" I yelled, glancing around the room.

My hair was suddenly yanked back and I cried out sharply, my hands going up and blindly grappling with the little girl's cold dead hand, which held my hair in a vice grip. In the corner of my eye I saw it – the long, sharp blade glinted wickedly as the girl raised it; preparing to slash it across my exposed throat.

The blade began it's swift descent just as Sam yelled in protest and barrelled into me, his body covered mine protectively and his eyes squeezed shut as he prepared for the girl's deliverance with the blade. Over Sam's shoulder, however, the girl was shrieking horrifically as she suddenly burnt up in a lazy flame, rearing back as she smoked up into the painting, "Well that was a little anticlimactic." I muttered.

Sam laughed, "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Says the guy who got dog-piled by a bookcase." I shot back playfully, hitting his shoulder lightly.

My phone suddenly started ringing and Sam cleared his throat and got up off of me, "Hello?" I answered as I stood up.

"Steph, are you two ok?" Dean's concerned tone echoed around the speaker.

"Yeah, not bad." I sighed, suddenly tired. Across the room, Sam shared my expression, looking how I felt.

"Thank God," Dean sighed in relief, "Just sit tight, me and Sarah are on our way, ok?"

"Ok," I nodded, "See you soon." I shut the phone off and walked over to the younger Winchester and enveloped him into an exhausted embrace.

Sam laughed as he hugged me back, "What's this for?"

"We're safe," I replied softly, "And we're alive, and I'm happy for it."

**T**

The next morning the three of us met up with Sarah at the auction house so we could say our goodbyes before we left, or rather, so _Sam _could say his goodbyes…

Sarah stood in a simple grey tee and blue jeans, her hair was left down and she had a coffee cup in her right hand, her face lit up with her dazzling smile when she spotted Sam and us approaching. "You came!"

Sam returned her smile, "Yeah, we did."

Dean held some papers he'd printed out earlier this morning, "This was archived in the county records. The Merchant's adopted their daughter, Melanie. She was up for adoption because her real family was murdered in their beds."

Sarah's smile faded and her eyes widened, "She killed them?"

I nodded, "Yep. It's a great cover, I mean, who'd ever suspect a sweet little girl? So after she came into the Merchant family she slaughters Isaiah and his wife and son, then kills herself. Isaiah takes the blame and his spirit's been trying to warn people ever since."

"That's why the painting kept changing." Sam finished the story as an employee came over holding up the Merchant portrait.

"Uh Miss Blake, where's this one go?" He asked.

"Take it out back and burn it." Sarah replied. The man stared at her in confusion, not sure if she was making a joke or not, "I'm serious," She smiled and the employee nodded, "Thank you!" She called after him. "So," Sarah turned back to the three of us, "Any explanation as to why the girl did all that?"

The younger Winchester offered her a shrug, "Some people are just born tortured. When they die, their spirits remain just as dark."

Dean's eyes narrowed a fraction, "Maybe. I don't really care. It's over, we move on."

"Ahh," Sarah glanced at Dean and I before her eyes moved back to Sam, "I guess this means you're leaving."

The younger Winchester looked down at his shoes for a brief moment before he turned his gaze to bore into mine.

Long seconds passed before I finally caught on to what he wanted, "Oh! Oh, um, Dean and I need to go be somewhere… again. I'll see you Sarah." I bid goodbye hurriedly and forced a smile as I grabbed Dean's hand, but he made no move to leave. Instead, he stood there a little awkwardly for a few more seconds before he nodded, seemingly to himself, and allowed me to half-drag him away. As we neared the car I sighed, "Ok, what's wrong?"

"It's just - I'm the one that burned the doll and destroyed the spirit, but don't thank me or anything." Dean grumbled to me, making me smile.

When we got to the car I leant up and kissed Dean passionately, my hand curling through his hair, "Thank you for destroying the spirit." I said once we parted.

Dean smiled knowingly down at me, "Why do I suddenly get the feeling you want something from me?"

"Nothing." I replied innocently.

One, Two, Three, Fo-

"Although there is one thing." I smiled sweetly.

"There it is." Dean smirked.

"I'm a good driver, Dean, please please _please _can I just drive it to the next town or something?" I asked in a careful tone.

The older Winchester grinned and shook his head, "No, no way."

I sagged against him, "But Dean!" I protested with a whine.

"You can keep saying my name all you want, I'm not letting you drive the car, Steph." Dean shrugged.

I heaved a sigh just as the door to the auction house opened and Sam appeared, "Alright here we go, prepare to lose ten dollars." I smirked as Dean and I both watched them in anticipation.

But instead of the goodbye kiss Sam and Sarah had been building up to, the door shut again and Sam started to approach the car. Dean shook his head and fished in his pocket for his keys, "You can pay me later, Steph." He said as he unlocked the car.

"Dammit." I muttered as we both got into the car, turning around to look back at the auction house and my jaw dropping. Sam and Sarah were stood in the doorway, sharing one of the most ardent kisses I'd ever seen, Dean followed my gaze and smiled.

"That's my boy." He chuckled proudly and I grinned smugly.

"You can pay me later, Dean."


End file.
